Just Won't Die 6
by OneShot
Summary: Ranma's ends up in the Slayers universe where he meets his match, a girl named Lina Inverse. Having been seen while bathing naked, Lina seeks revenge on that peeping tom, Ranma. Ranma soon teams up with Lina in hopes of finding his way back home.


Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong

Just Won't Die 6

Lina Inverse was humming to herself as she proceeded to get undressed. She had been so glad to have stumbled upon this hot spring in her travels and was looking forward to a nice soak. Cautious of a peeping tom or the like, she had put up a huge forcefield surrounding the forest upon where the hot spring was located.  
Totally naked, Lina proceeded step into the hot spring, loving the warm sensation coursing through her body.  
About five seconds after she stepped into the water and walking about five feet, where the water was now up to her knees, a huge sphere of energy appeared above the hot spring.  
"What the?" she said to herself, looking up.  
The sphere then disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind a figure. Only a moment elapsed before gravity took its course and plunged the individual down toward the hot spring below. "Oh shit!" Ranma muttered, his arms flailing. He was about to twist in midair to land on his feet, but unfortuantely, it was too lated before he noticed a totally naked Lina under him.  
He slammed into Lina with such force that both he and her were momentarily submerged under the water. Before he surfaced, he was sure one of his hands grabbed onto something soft and round.  
Gasping for breath, Lina's head shot out of the water. Ranma was already standing. Clad in his usually attire, his clothing clunge to his body tightly.  
"Eeek!" Lina screamed, "A peeping tom!" She quickly covered her breasts only to realize that her lower region was uncovered. Trying to cover her lower region, she soon realized her breasts were now uncovered. She tried to cover both regions with each hand, failing to cover both.  
Ranma blushed as he turned around, "I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to see you naked. I didn't see anything though,"  
Lina exploded at the comment. Sure, she knew she had small breasts, but to hear it from a peeping tome was outright maddening. "So, you think I have no breasts? Fine, you'll pay for saying that! Fireball!"  
Ranma turned around to say it was a misunderstanding only to catch sight of a massive sphere of energy coming right toward him. With not a moment to spare, Ranma had deflected the fireball, sending it spiralling upward into the sky where it disappeared beyond the heavens. When she shot another fireball, Ranma was ready now and deflected it again, this time, the fireball sent flying away from them and into the forcefield Lina had set up earlier, shattering it.  
"Hold up!" Ranma said, "This is all a misunderstanding!"  
"No! I heard exactly what you said! You said I had no breasts!" she shouted, shooting yet another fireball.  
"No, y-your breasts are fine! You have fine breasts!" he quickly said. He said whatever popped into his mind and hoped it was enough to get her to stop throwing these weird projectiles at him.  
Lina seemed to turn into a blushing school girl as her cheeks flooded with heat. "T-they are?"  
Ranma smirked, "Saotome Secret Technique!"  
Lina was momentarily shocked to have been fooled. She couldn't believe she had been distracted by an obvious ruse and was now going to pay for it. She quickly held her hands forward in front of her and summoned up a forcefield, hoping it was good enough to counter whatever attack this individual was going to use.  
Ranma executed his secret technique perfectly. He had pivoted on his feet and lept out of the hot spring, making a mad dash away from the extremely powerful young girl. He was already out of sight before the girl realized she had been duped again.  
"I'll kill him!" Lina said angrily, "No one gets away with seeing me naked and fooling me twice!"  
She quickly said a chant and levitated into the air and proceeded to chase after the individual. A moment later, she flew back to the hot spring and put on her clothes. Once dressed, she began her persuit of the peeping tom. He would pay for having embarrassed her like that.  
"I'll get you!"

Lina hovered in the air as she followed Ranma. She couldn't believe the stamina this man had. He had been running non-stop for over and hour. She wondered if he was ever going to stop. Just where was he headed? Where ever it was, she was going to be there to see the shocked look in his face when he realized he had been followed this whole time.  
Ranma continued running, only slowing down to dodge the trees and branches in his way.  
Hm, I wonder if that girl hovering above me knows that I know that she's behind her, he thought to himself. She's pretty persistent, though. I hafta give her that much credit. But now is not the time to stop. I hafta find a way back home.  
He continued running. All he knew was that since the girl spoke Japanese, he assumed he was in Japan, meaning he had to head west to get to China so he could find a nanban mirror to get back home. If the girl wanted to follow him, fine. Let her be. But I can't let her follow me all the way to China. This is ridiculous.  
Lina had to give the running man a bit of respect for having ran for so long. But enough was enough. It was time to exact her revenge on that man for having seen her naked and saying she had no breasts. Just as she was about to swoop down to grab the guy by the back collar of his shirt and bring him up into the air with her to give him a good scare, the man seemed to disappeared "What the?" she was a bit surprised. No one had ever managed to evade her when she had been intent on following them, yet it was very obvious she had lost track of him. She hovered down toward the area where Ranma had disappeared. Where ever he had gone, he was surely hiding somewhere nearby and she was going to find him. That was for sure.  
The moment Lina's foot touched the ground, a shadow quickly emerged from a nearby tree, heading straight toward her from behind.  
Lina smirked. What a lousy trap. The man must be a complete idiot to attack someone as powerful as herself. He wouldn't know what hit him.  
She quickly turned around and extended a hand forward, "Gotcha! Fireball!"  
When the fiery projectile shot from her fingertips and headed straight toward the shadow, the shadow seemed to move with supersonic speed as it simply sidestepped the attack, continuing to head straight toward her.  
Caught off-guard from having seen one her her spells actually dodged, Lina found herself unable to react until it was too late. When she brought her hand back up to shoot another fireball, she found her hand grabbed by the shadow as she was hit in the with such force that she tumbled backwards onto her backside, the shadow falling down on top of her.  
Since there had been so much momentum behind the attack, Lina and the shadow continued tumbling several times before coming to a halt, Lina's back on the ground.  
Ranma held Lina's wrists firmly, keeping her hands outstretched from her body. His head hurt from having bumped it against the ground when he had tackled Lina like that. It was almost funny that he had actually tripped a split second before he ended up hitting into Lina full force. He had meant to grab her instead of slamming into her like that. However, he had been able to curl up into a ball and protect Lina so she wouldn't get hurt in the tumble.  
"Eeek! Rape!" Lina yelled. She had found herself in a very demeaning position. She was lying on her back as Ranma held her wrists away from her body and mounted ontop of her in a missionary position. Had they been naked, her body would had been violated.  
Ranma quickly jumped to his feet, holding his hands up defensively, "Wait! It's not what you think! I-I tripped!" Lina quickly rolled away to her feet where she cheked herself to see if anything was wrong. When her hands wandered over her breasts, she realized one of her breasts were revealed. Her eyes widened.  
"Wait! T-that's not my fault! It got ripped against a branch as we were rolling!" Ranma said. It was true. He even had a scratch on his forearm where that same branch had caught him.  
"How dare you!" she shouted, teary-eyed, "Now I'm no longer pure! All because of you!" "Huh? B-but I did nothing! I-I wasn't trying to r-rape ya! Honest!"  
"Gotcha!" Lina smirked, shooting a fireball right at Ranma.  
Ranma was off-guard then and was struck in the chest full force, sent flying bodily through the air when he slammed against and through several trees before coming to a halt. He crumpled onto the ground in a heaping mess of bruises.  
"Consider that your payment of having been able to see me naked," she said, blowing her index finger as if she was blowing the smoke from a fired pistol.  
Ranma got up to his feet, glaring at Lina, "That hurt you know!"  
Lina's eyes widened. She couldn't believe that man had survived an attack like that. He had been hit in the chest by one of her fireballs damnit! Actually, people do survive her fireballs. It was just very surprising that this man was able to get up after having been hit. She found her heart beating a bit rapidly at the realization that she wasn't dealing with a normal human being.  
"You're lucky you're a girl. Otherwise..." Ranma left the sentence hanging as he began to dust himself.  
"Otherwise what?" Lina smirked. Ranma shot a ki-blast from his fingertips toward a nearby tree, uttering incinerating it, "Otherwise, that tree would be you," He smirked. Hee hee, I'm so cool. "Oh yeah?" Lina retorted, "I guarantee you wouldn't even come close to hitting me with something like that. That fireball of yours may be powerful, but I can see it coming from a mile away. A snail can dodge that fireball. Man, I betcha you're a third-rate magic user,"  
"Magic user? I ain't no magic user. You don't see me going around pulling bunnies outta hats do ya?" Ranma replied, almost offended.  
Lina's eyelid twitched. Did he just say what I think he did? Is that what he thinks a magic user is? Someone that pulls bunnies out of hats?  
"Y-y-you t-think that's what m-magic is? Pulling bunnies out of hats?" Lina stammered, beyond fuming.  
"Yeah," he said.  
"I'll show you magic! Dragon Slave!"  
Ranma awoke with a start. He was momentarily disoriented and it took several moments for him to become familiar with his surroundings. Looking around, he realized he was in some kind of barn and that it was night out. All he could see was hay. To his surprise, he also saw a young girl sleeping peacefully right next to him, snuggled against him.  
When he sat up, he realized that his hands and legs were binded by ropes.  
"Yeah right," he smirked, "As if rope's gonna work on me,"  
His muscles flexed slightly as he tried to break the rope that was tied around his wrists. To his surprise, he didn't break it.  
"What the? I didn't break 'em," he said. He tried against and noticed that the rope seemed to glow as he put more and more strain against it. After a minute, he gave up.  
He looked down toward the young girl sleeping next to him. It was the same girl that he had met earlier. What the hell was she doing sleeping next to him. He nudged her with his knee, "Hey, wake up,"  
Lina stirred, "No, lemme alone. I'm all pooped out,"  
"Hey, wake up," he said a bit louded, saying it into her ear.  
Lina awoke with a start. When she opened her eyes, she noticed a looming firgure. In her shock, she slapped Ranma in the face, sending him flying bodily into one corner of the barn.  
Quickly getting to her feet, her heart racing, "W-what the hell didja do that for?"  
"M-me?" Ranma said, leaning against the barn wall to get to his feet, "You're the one that was snuggled against me!"  
"M-me? I-I was not!" she stammered. There was no way that could had happened. She had laid down to sleep on the other haystack after having waited over three hours for Ranma to wake up and finally realizing that he was not going to anytime soon. She recalled having been uncomfortable sleeping on that haystack until she had found something soft to rest her head against.  
"Yes you were!" Ranma said, "You were using my thigh as a damn pillow!"  
"No! I was not!" Lina said. That couldn't possibly be! It couldn't! "Is that why I'm tied up? Because you were taking advantage of me while I was unconsious?" Ranma asked, gasping, "God, I feel so violated. What did you do with my body?"  
"I-I did n-nothing!" she spat, "Nothing!"  
"Why am I tied up?"  
"Because I tied you up, that's why," Lina said, "I want answers,"  
"Answers to what?"  
"Answers to some questions I have," she said, "Like how on earth you were able to stand up after taking a hit from one of my fireballs like that? Or how I found you only unconsious after I used my Dragon Slave spell? Or where the heck you came from?"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I'd like to know myself on how the heck I got here," He found that his wrists were aching from the rope rubbing against his skin, "Will you please lettme go? I don't like being tied up like this,"  
"Too bad," Lina smirked, "Besides, what can you do about it?"  
Ranma gritted his teeth, "Lettme the hell go!"  
"No," she said, crossing her arms over the front of her chest.  
"Fine, then I'll hafta break outta them,"  
"I doubt that's possible," she smirked, "I've enchanted those ropes. There's no way you can break through them, not unless I dispell the enchantment, which I have no intention of doing,"  
"We'll see," Ranma's muscles strained as he tried to break through the rope. The rope glowed red from the strain.  
"My my," Lina's eyes widened in amusement, "You must be really strong for the rope to be turning red like that. That means you have more strength than the average person. The color of the rope gauges how much strain its holding back,"  
The rope then turned oranage, then yellow, then green.  
"Damn," Lina found herself saying to herself. Not even monsters five times larger than the noremal human possessed that much strength.  
The rope continued to turn color. It turn, blue, then violet, and then finally white.  
"Oh my god!" she commented.  
A moment later, the rope broke. The tattered remains of the rope flew toward either end of the barn. With his hands free, Ranma reached forward and grabbed hold of the rope binding his legs. He gave it a good yank before the rope broke. He had a much easier time breaking it because he had used his back muscles to yank, not his shoulders like he had been before when the rope was tied around his wrists.  
Ranma quickly got up to his feet, towering over the petite Lina. The top of Lina's head barefly reached up to his collar bone. He extended his hand forward where the tattered rope was still in his hand, "These are yours as I believe,"  
"H-h-how did you?"  
It took a moment for Lina to discern what had happened. She quickly took a leap back away from Ranma pulled her sword from her scabbard. She would had used a fireball, but she didn't want to destroy the barn she and Ranma were in because she owed the farmer for allowing her to sleep there that night.  
Ranma looked at the sword and sighed, "Look, I don't wanna fight,"  
Lina smirked, "Sorry, but you chose the wrong person to peep on,"  
"I wasn't peeping on you!" he shouted, "Why the hell would I want to peep on some flat-chested chick like you anyway?"  
"Why you!" Lina swung her sword skillfully at Ranma's head. To her surprise, Ranma caught the blade between his middle and index finger. When she tried to pull the blade back toward her, she found herself unable, as if she had stuck her sword into a solid stone that refused to release its grip on her sword.  
"Little girls like yourself shouldn't play with sharp objects," Ranma commented. He flicked his wrist and the blade broke cleanly off from its hilt, causing Lina to fall backwards and onto her backside. She quickly rolled back up to her feet, glaring at Ranma, "How dare you break my sword! That was my favorite sword!"  
Ranma quickly turned around when he heard something from one of the dark corners of the barn, "W-w-what the h-h-hell was t-that?"  
Lina heard nothing, "What? I hear nothing," She remained cautious, not expecting to fall for another ruse like she had earlier.  
From out of the corner of the barn emerged a tiny cat, a mouse in its mouth. It was typical that a barn like this had a cat since there would be mice around.  
Lina heard a heart wrenching scream and turned just in time to see Ranma jump straight toward her with lightning speed just moments before everything went black, just as she realized she had fallen for yet another one of Ranma's ruse.  
Lina was knocked unconsious.  
Lina awoke with a start, "What? W-where am I?"  
"You're at an inn," came a voice. When Lina turned to face it, she caught sight of Ranma.  
"You!" she said, quickly sitting upright. To her surprise, she realized that she couldn't, that both her arms and legs were tied to the bedposts at the corners of the bed she was lying on, "Hey! What's going on here? Release me!"  
Ranma smirked, "No,"  
"You'll be real sorry if you don't!" she snapped, "Do you know who you're dealing with?"  
Ranma sat down next to Lina and leaned down near her, his face coming within inches of hers, making her very aware of that as he said, "I dunno. But whoever you are, you dunno who you're dealin' with either?"  
"Well, I'm not worried," Lina smirked, "I can break out of these in no problem," She closed her eyes and said a chant. A moment later, the ropes broke. "Oh shit!" Ranma muttered, the blood draining from his face, "Damn, who the hell are you?"  
He quickly made a run for the window just as Lina shot a fireball right at him, ducking just in time as the projectile sailed right over his head and other the window, destroying the building across the street. When Ranma stood up and looked out the window, his eyes widened as he turned around, pointing out the window, "Jeez, you just blew up that building across the street! Have you no remorse of the damage you cause? You're psycho!"  
"Fireball!" Lina shouted as she shot one right at Ranma, only to have it ducked and shoot right out the window, destorying yet another building.  
"Quit it! You're gonna hurt someone!" Ranma said.  
"Yeah, you! That's what I intend to do!" Lina said, readying herself to release another fireball.  
Just before Lina released yet another fireball, someone began pounding on the door to the room, "Hey, quit making so much noise in there! People are trying to sleep!"  
Ranma walked over to the door and opened it. He gave a weak smile and said, "I'm sorry, but you know how us newlyweds are,"  
"Well, don't let it happen again," came the voice, "There are children in this building. If you're gonna go around having sex, do it quietly. Jeez," A moment later, footsteps could be heard walking away from the door. Ranma closed the door behind him and let out a sigh, "Jeez, what a night,"  
"Newlyweds? Why do you go and say something like that?" Lina shouted, blushing red, her heart racing, "Now all the people in this building will think we were having...y'know!"  
Ranma waved a hand and said, "Hey, I had to say something. I had to tell the inn keeper that you were my wife because this was the only room left in the town and it was for couples only,"  
"You what?" Lina gasped.  
"Hey, I had to say something!"  
The door flew open and in entered a burly man, "No more warnings! Either you shut up or get the hell outta here!"  
Ranma turned to face the burly man, "Hey, can't you see me and my wife are arguing? Get the hell away from me!" Although Ranma never acted like this, it was excuseable because he was under a lot of tension and wasn't even all that aware of what the heck he was doing right now anyway.  
Lina gave Ranma a keen look and had to admire that Ranma had the courage to say something like that to a man twice his size. It was also obvious that Ranma was unarmed yet didn't seem to be one bit worried about that. She then noticed that Ranma had said she was his wife.  
"I ain't his wife!" she spoke out.  
"I don't care if she's yer girlfriend, your mistress, or even your sister," the burly man said, "If you don't shut up, I'm gonna kick ya out, and I mean it,"  
"Don't threaten me," Ranma sneered.  
"Oh yeah?"  
"Yeah," he said.  
The burly man reached a hand forward and grabbed Ranma by his shirt collar. A moment later, the man was sent flying bodily out the room via the door, slamming into the hallway wall by a well placed open hand strike.  
Lina was shocked at the speed of Ranma's strike. She hadn't even seen it. One second the man had his hand on Ranma's shirt collar. The next second, Ranma's hand was extended forward in an open hand strike and the man sent flying backwards. She had never seen someone so fast before.  
Ranma closed the door behind him and turned toward Lina, "Truce?"  
Lina looked at Ranma.  
"No...Fireball!"  
Ranma glared at Lina, "That hurt ya know,"  
He and Lina were facing each other. Surrounding them was nothing but the debris left behind from what used to be the inn they had been staying in. Nearby, a burly man was crying as he looked down at what was left of his beautiful business.  
Damn, how the hell does he brush off my fireballs like they're nothing? Lina was thinking to herself as she glared back at him. She noticed that he wasn't even singed. "Good, I hope it hurts. Consider it your down payment of having seen me naked back there,"  
Ranma sighed, "Jeez! It's that why you're all pissed at me?"  
She nodded. No one gets away with seeing her naked against her wishes.  
Ranma proceeded to take off his clothes. He had taken off his shirt and his shoes before Lina's eyes widened and she said, "W-w-what the hell are you doing?"  
"I'm gonna letcha see me naked," he said seriously, "Since I saw you naked, then I guess you have the right to see me naked,"  
Lina smiled, "Fine. I guess I can live with that. Go on and strip,"  
She knew the man was bluffing and she was going to call it. She was wondering just how far he was going to go with his bluff. When Ranma was already stripped down to his boxers, Lina swallowed the lump in her throat. Just as Ranma was about to pull his boxers down to his ankles, Lina quickly turned around, her entire face turning red.  
"P-put your clothes back on!" Lina stammered, blushing red. Never in her life had she crossed an opponent so unpredictable as the man standing before her. "F-forget I said that! I thought you were bluffing!"  
Since Lina had her back to Ranma, she could see several passerbys glancing behind her, at Ranma. She knew those females were looking at Ranma. The shade of red on their cheeks clearly showed that they were having quite an eyeful.  
"Hey! This show ain't free, y'know!" she heard Ranma's voice from behind.  
"Put your clothes back on! I take it back! I thought you were bluffing!" Lina shouted as she could hear Ranma's footsteps getting closer and closer.  
When she felt his hand rest against one of her shoulders, she nearly jumped out of her skin as she ran forward away from him, turning toward him on instict. Her eyes widened when she saw Ranma.  
Ranma was grinning from ear to ear. He was still in his boxers.  
"Gotcha!" he smirked.  
Lina fummed, unable to believe she had fallen for yet another ruse. It even shocked her more when she had realized she had turned her back toward him back then, leaving her vulnerable to a rear attack, yet she had done so anyway because she really thought the man standing behind her was naked.  
"I gotcha good," he smiled, revelling in the moment. When he noticed the starry-eyed stares from several girls, "Hey, there's nothing to see here. Haven't ya seen a half-naked guy before?"  
"No," several girls seemed to say at once.  
"Well, this isn't for your enjoyment," he said, "I'm only doing this to get this chick off of my case," He jerked a thumb toward Lina.  
"Chick? Why you! Fireball!" Lina shouted as she shot a fiery projectile at Ranma.  
Ranma managed to sidestep the fireball, much to Lina's surprise once again. The fireball travelled forward where it struck the ground right behind Ranma.  
"Ha, that was a lousy shot," he taunted her. He knew she couldn't really hurt him. Her fireballs had little effect and when they did hit him, it only stung. However, he would have to avoid that 'Dragon Slave' projectile she had casted. Although she had caught him off-guard with that, it would still hurt him.  
Lina smirked, "You really think I was aiming for you?"  
"Huh?"  
"Take a look behind ya," she smiled.  
Ranma turned around and realized that his pile of clothes were burning, "Oh shit! My clothes!"  
When he tried to run to his flaming clothes to smolder them out, he found himself unable to move. His arms were held tightly against his side. He suddenly realize he had been restrained by some invisible force. Looking over his shoulder, he realized that that girl had her hands extended toward him.  
"Hey, you're the one doing this! Stop it!" he shouted, "My clothes are burning!"  
"I know," Lina smirked. She was going to get him back real good for causing her such embarrassment, "I've put a restraining spell on ya, so you can watch your clothes burn. That's what you get for trying to pull a stunt like that,"  
Ranma gritted his teeth. A second later, his arms shot outward from his body as the invisible restraining spell seemed to have been broken right before Lina's very eyes. He ran toward his clothes where he just stared down at the ashes of what remained of his clothes.  
"Serves ya right," Lina taunted the man.  
Ranma turned toward Lina, "Oh yeah? Fine, ya wanna play it that way?" Clad in his boxers, he slowly walked toward Lina. When she noticed him approaching her, she extended a hand forward, "Don't come any closer or your gonna be sorry," She found it rather odd that she was even giving this man any warning. Usually, she would just blast a person into the stratosphere, but with him, she had to admit to herself that he was quite the unusual character.  
Ranma smirked. A second later, he darted forward at supersonic speeds, closing in on Lina before she even realized he had even moved. Before she could even blink, Ranma seemed to have passed right through her and was sliding to a halt behind her.  
When she turned around to face him, his back was toward her and he was in a low crouching position, like he had just executed an attack.  
"What the hell was that?" Lina asked.  
Ranma stood up and turned toward her, a smirk on his face.  
A second later, Lina's clothes seemed to shred right before her eyes and fell down to her feet in tattered remains. She looked down and soon realized she was only clad in her bra and panties.  
Ranma smirked, "Now we're both in the same boat. Now neither of us have clothes,"  
"M-my clothes!" Lina shouted, covering over her chest, blushing beet red. She glared at him.  
Hm, I guess I was wrong, Ranma thought. She doesn't have that small of breasts. I guess her clothes were a bit restricting. Of course, her breasts were still small, just not as small as he thought.  
"W-what are you looking at?" Lina shouted. She had noticed Ranma's eyes lingering on her chest far longer than they were supposed to. Sure, it was a bit flattering that he was staring at her, but then again, he was a guy, and all guys were like that. And what was worse was that it was from a guy she now hated and would kill in an instant had she her clothes and not her half-nakedness to worry about.  
Ranma continued to glance at Lina's breasts. If those wonderbra thingies exist, she would be even more attractive. Attractive? What the hell am I thinking? She's trying to kill me!  
Lina slapped Ranma, "Quit looking at me like that!"  
That seemed to snap Ranma out of his revierie, "Hey! What the heck didja do that for?"  
"You were staring at my breasts!" she shouted, very embarrassed.  
"Yeah, so?" he replied without much thought.  
Lina blushed another shade of red. This was a very awkward situation she had gotten herself into. It didn't help that the man before her was staring at her breasts. But then again, no one had actually looked at her like that. Her heart started beating faster than it already was at the realization.  
"Quit having perverted thoughts about me!" she said. She could picture the thoughts running through that man's mind. It was enough to make anyone's heart race, especially hers. "Hey, what the heck makes ya think I was having perverted thoughts about you?" Ranma said, blushing slightly. It didn't take long for him to realize why that young girl thought that. He had been staring at her for longer than he cared to admit.  
Ranma was about to say something else when he realized the young girl turning her attention elsewhere.  
"That's them!" They're the ones that destroyed my inn!" the man, forgotten until now, told several townsmen. It was clear that these people were authority figures since they were dressed in uniform. They looked at Ranma and then Lina, a bit surprised at seeing two half-naked people. However, they pulled out their swords as one of them said, "All right, you two are gonna have to come with us,"  
"Um, what do we do now?" Ranma asked, turning toward Lina. He had no idea what he was supposed to do in a situation like this. He probably would had gone with them, but he didn't want to be executed because he knew nothing about the laws of this world.  
"What else, we run!"

Ranma and Lina ran for what seemed like several miles. Actually, it was Ranma that did the running while Lina simply used her levitation spell and hovered those miles. When they finally stopped, Ranma didn't look like he was at all tired despite having run for such a long time. They endd up in some forest. It just so happens it was the same forest where Ranma had first arrived unexpectedly.  
Hovering down to the ground, Lina gave Ranma a glance, "My my, I'm impressed that you're not tired,"  
Ranma smirked, "Well, I guess I can't say the same about you,"  
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" she glared at him.  
"I betcha you're outta shape from lettin' your magic do all the work," he commented, "But then again, I guess you're not that outt shape considering you ain't fat,"  
Lina found herself almost blushing until she realize what Ranma had really said. "And just what makes ya think I'm out of shape? I betcha I'm in much better shape than you. Hey, what the hell are ya looking at?" She realized Ranma wasn't paying much attention to her. It was until then did she realize that both she and Ranma were still clad in their undergarments.  
He gave a weak laugh and said, "Sorry," After a moment, he turned around and headed off in western direction.  
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Lina called out, following behind him. Since Ranma had a large stride, Lina had to take two steps to Ranma's one. "Consider ourselves even," he said, stopping. Lina ended up bumping her nose into Ranma's muscular back. She rubbed her nose as she looked up at him. She felt almost intimidated at Ranma's size. He stood not only a full head taller, but he was much more muscular than she had originally thought. It seems that the weird clothes that he wore hid his physique.  
"Hey, quit having perverted thoughts about me," Ranma teased, smirking, when he noticed Lina staring at him.  
"I was not!" she shouted, blushing red. Unable to deal with the embarrassment, she did the first thing that popped into her mind. She threw a fireball at him to get her point across. Unfortunately, Ranma had picked up on her early execution of her fireball and simply sidestepped it, the fireball arcing up into the air where it disappeared somewhere beyond the heavens.  
"Don't bother," he said with a wave of a hand, "Unless you catch me off guard, you're never going to hit me with those lil fireballs of yours,"  
Lina smirked, "You think a fireball is the only thing I can cast? Well, you're dead wrong,"  
Ranma got into a defensive stance, "All right, fine. Gimme your best,"  
Ranma was barraged by every one of Lina's spells. He didn't stand a chance.

Ranma was muttering to himself as he proceeded to wander aimlessly through the woods. It didn't help any that he was still clad in his boxers and had bruises all over his body. He had to admit that he had underestimated that young girl. He had really taught him a lesson in humility.  
"Stupid chick," he muttered, "She's so damn lucky she's a girl. Otherwise I wouldn't've let her get away with the crap she has. I haven't taken so much crap from anyone in the longest time,"  
He smirked as he recalled the incident a short while ago. Lina had nailed him with projectile after projectile, alternatng between ice spells and fire spells. He managed to dodge most of the porjectiles, but those that had hit him really stung. Eventually, he realized the futility in continuing on and had simply said, 'Fine, you win. I'm leaving.'  
When he had simply turned around and proceeded to walk away, that young girl smiled and watched as he left. Luckily, she never bothered to follow after him. He had to admit that she was a very powerful opponent, probably one of the most powerful opponents he had faced in the longest time, but he had swallowed his pride and walked away. There was no use in proving himself. He did not hit girls.  
Ranma's eyes widened as he came to a clearing. In the middle of that clearing was a hot spring. His jaw dropped when he recognized that that hot spring. It was the same hot spring where that young girl had been taking a bath in when he had appeared.  
"Goddamnit! I'm back where I started!" he shouted, shooting a massive ki-blast up into the air.  
From well over a mile away, Lina had been muttering to herself about how she had been too soft on that man, to have let him live. She had to admit that she was rather amazed that he not only dodged most of her attacks, but also managed to brush off the attacks that would had otherwise knocked any mortal unconsious.  
She looked down at her undergarments and gave a slight laugh. She still couldn't understand how he had managed to do that to her. She hadn't even seen him do that. She wonered just how much that man was holding back. However, she smiled to herself because she had won that match. She had put that man in his place.  
When she saw a massive sphere of energy shoot up into the air, she had the funny suspicion it was that guy who had did that. Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered what would had happened to her if something like that had hit her. She'd probably be dead.  
She continued to watch as the ki-blast rose high into the air and stop about a mile up. It seemed to hover there for a second before gravity seemed to take course and bring the ki-blast back down toward the terra firma.  
"Jeez, what kinda projectile is that?" she asked herself, regarding the ki-blast.  
Her eyes widened when she saw the ki-blast come slamming back down on the part of the forest where it had emerged, exploding upon impact with the ground.  
Lina was forced to shield her eyes from the brilliance of the blast, hiding behind a nearby tress to protect herself from the shockwave. When everyhing subsided, she gingerly looked back around the tree and nearby fell over from the shock when she saw the destruction the blast had caused. A huge crater about fifty feet in diameter could be seen, as if a huge chunk of the forest had been uprooted.  
"Whoa," Lina smirked, her heart racing. She suddenly realized that that blast was close to as strong as her Dragon Slave. To think that someone else could possess such power made her very curious. She had to find out more about him. "I know it's going to gnaw away at me at just who that guy was so I might as well go back and find out,"  
Slowly, she made her way toward the huge crater.  
"This sucks," Ranma muttered to himself as he sat on his backside in the middle of the crater. He had accidentally destroyed a good portion of the forest, and for what, to let out his anger. He couldn't believe he had done that. Somehow, it turns out that he had accidentally executed a Perfect Shi Shi Hokodan since he had been depressed from realizing he was right back where he started. When the ki-bast hit him, it had left him unscathed but the shockwaves had caused massive destruction as it rippled away from him.  
"Damn, how the hell am I gonna fix this fuck up?" he asked himself. He knew tha hundreds upon hundreds of animals were now without homes, or worse, dead.  
He sighed. There was nothing he could do. What was done was done. All he could do was go on.  
After a few minutes, he got up to is feet and proceeded to climb on up out of the crater.  
When he finally reached the top, he was a bit surprised to see the young girl looking down at him, still clad in her bra and panties.  
"What the heck do you want?" he asked. He wanted to kick himself for snapping at her. But then again, she had been quite a nusance to him since his arrival.  
Lina continued to look at Ranma. For some reason, she felt this urge to extend her hand and help Ranma up to his feet, but she chose against it. She took a step back as he climbed out of the crater and got to his feet, facing her. Standing in front of her, Ranma regarded her for several long moments, making Lina very aware of herself.  
"What?" she snapped at him, not liking his critical gaze.  
"What do ya want?" he repeated.  
Lina stopped for a moment to firgure out what she was going to say. After a moment, she said, "I was merely curious as to where you learned that technique, that's all,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "What makes ya think I learned it? I did that by accident,"  
"A-accident? You're lying,"  
He turned around and proceeded to walk off in western, hopefully western, direction. It was going to get dark and most likely cold. He needed some clothes and shelter.  
"Hey, where do you think you're going? Don't walk away when I'm speaking to you," she said coldly, authoritively. It really got her peeved that this man showed no fright toward her, even after learning the hard way that she was someone not to be crossed.  
Ranma turned to face Lina, an annoyed look on his face, "What? What the hell do ya want? Can't you see I'm in no mood to talk to the likes of you?"  
Lina smirked, "So? You think that bothers me?" This was more to her liking, when her opponents let their emotions take control of them. Taking a deep breath, Ranma sighed. Figuring it wasn't worth it, he turned around again and proceeded to walk away from her. When Lina realized what he had done, she quickly followed after him. When she asked him where he had been intent on going, he simply ignored her. After asking several times, she realized he was purposely ignoring her.  
"All right, ignore me if you want. I'll just continue talking," she said.  
Ranma turned toward Lina, "Quit following me. You're nothing but trouble,"  
"You bet," she retorted, "And I could be a whole lot more trouble if you continue to ignore me. I want to know where you learned that technique," It was a technique no mere sorcerer was supposed to know. Who did this guy work for? She wanted to know. It was not common for her to cross paths with someone of his calibur.  
Gritting his teeth, Ranma shouted, "Get the hell away from me! I ain't gonna say it again!"  
Lina wasn't at all intimidated, "You don't scare me,"  
Ranma smirked, "What, you wanna fight?"  
Momentarily caught off guard, Lina said, "What, y-you wanna fight?"  
Smiling, Ranma said, "All right,"  
He got into a battle stance. When he did, Lina seemed to be speechless because she had never seen such thing as a battle stance before. The only battle stance she had really ever seen was that of a swordsman, his sword held up front. This was very different, however. The man had no weapon.  
However, Lina was well aware that this man was capable of doing some amazing things with his hands, like shred her clothes without her knowing or feeling it. "Fine, let's fight," she said, readying herself for a fireball. She would end this fight fast.  
"C'mon," he taunted her.  
Lina took the initiative and threw a fireball at Ranma, only to have it skillfully deflected back at her. Luckily, she managed to dodge right out of the way, rolling to her feet several meters away from the now evident hole in the ground that that fireball had caused.  
Goddamnit, she thought, breathing heavily. This guy is using my own projectiles against me.  
Just to make sure, she shot another fireball, only to have that one also deflected toward her, missing her by inches once again.  
"Hey, that's not fair!" Lina said.  
Ranma smirked and even chuckled a bit as he said, "Hey, quit your complaining. I'm already going easy on you,"  
For some reason, Lina had a funny suspicion that he was. He wasn't breathing heavily. He just stood there, calm, waiting for her to attack, anticipating her next move. All she knew was that in order to defeat him, she had to do something he had never seen her do before. "Whatever you throw at me, I'm gonna simply throw it right back at ya," he said, "You probably used every spell you knew on me back there. But don't think I got all these bruises in vain. Now I know what move you're gonna be doing next as soon as you try,"  
"Why you arrogant-" she spat, fuming.  
She shot a massive fireball at Ranma, channelling all her anger into it and sent it rocketing toward Ranma. Once again, it was deflected right back at her. Although she knew he would had done that, it had been too late for her to realize that that deflected fireball had been too large for her to dodge in time as it struck her in and sent her flying bodily through the air, sliding to a halt. Luckily for her, she had managed to extend her hands forward just in the nick of time and summon a barrier to absorb most of the blast. Unfortunately, she had still be caught in the blast.  
Ranma's eyes widened as he saw Lina lying unconsious on the ground a short distance away from him. "Oh shit," he muttered to himself as he ran toward her and knelt down next to her. He pressed a hand against her throat and felt a pulse and then sighed in relief. He couldn't believe what he had done. He had just injured this poor girl because he had assumed she would had dodged that fireball he deflected toward her. It was all his fault. All he had wanted to do was give her a scare and make her realize it was useless to fight him.  
"Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!" he muttered, "What the hell were you thinking, Ranma. You're an idiot, deflecting fireballs right back at the girl like that. Why the hell didja assume that she could dodge 'em in time. You should've left well enough alone and let her be and continued on walking,"  
Now knowing that he had an obligation to get help the injured girl, he gently picked her up in his arms, noticing how warm her body felt against his. But then again, it was skin against skin. Holding her in his arms, he headed off in western direction.  
"I hope there's a town in this direction,"

Lina felt this incredibly warm sensation flooding through her body, as if she had been lying down in a bath full of warm water. It felt very soothing and comforting, a sensation she could get used to. It was just too bad that she knew this was all a dream and that she would eventually had to awake. Slowly, Lina reluctantly opened her eyes. Not even a split second passed before she realized she was being carried in some sort of a way. A second later, she noticed that somebody had their arms wrapped around her body and that she was being held gently against their body as her head rested against the crook of the person's neck and shoulder.  
Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered how on earth she could had gotten into this situation. She noticed the rythmic steps the person was taking. She didn't tilt her head but rather shifted her gaze upward and caught sight of the pig-tail that the person had his hair tied into. She realized that she knew only one person wore his hairstyle like that.  
Not really knowing what to do, she said nothing and didn't move. Thoughts were racing through her mind as she wondered what she should do. She didn't know how she got there, why she was there, or where he was taking her. It also didn't help that her body was very aware of his body pressed against her.  
She gazed at a nearby tree and noticed it was rustling quite violently. That meant the winds must had picked up. One thing did seem very odd though. If the trees were being blown rather violently from the winds, how come she couldn't feel the wind herself. She answered her own question when she realized that some aura seemed to surround both her and the man to keep them warm since they were still clad in their uderclothes.  
If I'm not the one projecting the aura, then it must be this man, Lina thought. This man must be more skilled in magic than he lets on. It felt nice for a change to let someone else do the concentration of projecting an aura to keep them warm. Usually, she had to do it for herself. It was nice that some else was doing it this time around.  
Not really knowing what to do, Lina kept quiet and to herself. Only time would tell where he was taking her or why he was carrying her. All she could was wait. Since she had to wait, she might as well close her eyes for a moment and get some rest. Throwing all those fireballs back there had taken quite a bit out of her, especially that last fireball she had thrown. It wasn't until then did she realize she had been struck by her own fireball and knocked unconsious. It seemed to make sense. That was probably why this man was carrying her, because he wanted to help her out because she had been too slow to dodge her own projectile.  
She smiled slightly as she closed her eyes.  
What an absolutely idiot gesture he was doing.  
But then again, it was also a kind one.

Lina awoke feeling refreshed. She stretched for a moment before wiping the sleep from her eyes and surveying her surroundings. It only took a second for her to realize that she was at an inn. She got up and out of her bed, surprised to see that she was no longer clad in her bra and panties. She was clad in a pair of pajamas. Her visage sullened as she realized that she hadn't been the one that put those on. That meant someone else must had done it for her.  
She blushed as she wondered if it hade been that man to have done it for her. If it had, then that meant he had had his hands all over her. But how could that had been? She had fallen asleep. If he had touched her in any way, she would had awakened. Sleeping? Oh my god! How could I had fallen asleep while he had been carrying me?  
"What the hell is wrong with me? I don't even know the guy!" she shouted.  
She quickly looked around the room and already knew that he was no longer there. There was no indication that he had been there that night. The room had had only one bed, and she had been sleeping in it all this time.  
There came a knock at the door, which startled Lina. She quickly turned toward the door and approached it cautiously. Opening it, she had been half expecting to see that man, but almost felt disappointed when it wasn't. Standing before her was an elderly woman, most likely the maid, here thinking Lina had already left.  
"Yes?"  
The maid gave a warm smile, "I'm sorry, I wasn't too sure if you were still here or not. I'll clean up after you leave,"  
Lina asked, "Excuse me, but who paid for my room?"  
"I'm not too sure. A young looking man, about a head taller than you. Black hair. Blue eyes. Handsome," she replied.  
"Did he leave a name?" Lina asked. She figured it was about time she knew that man's name.  
The maid shook her head as she replied, "I'm sorry, but he never left a name. He left quite early this morning, several hours ago,"  
"What time is it?"  
"It's noontime," came the reply.  
"Damn, I can't believe I was asleep for so long," Lina commented.  
The maid asked, "I assume you've picked up the package left behind,"  
"Package? What package?"  
The maid said, "Before the man left, he had left a package behind at the front desk and asked that it be given to you,"  
"For me?" Lina smiled. She liked presents. She quickly left the room and headed for the front desk, which was down the hallway and down the stairs. Arriving at the desk, she asked if there had been a package left behind. The girl behind the counter regarded her for a moment before believing that the girl fit the description Ranma had given her. She reached under the counter and picked up a package and handed it to Lina.  
"It isn't some kinda bomb is it?" she joked, smiling.  
She opened up the package and was pretty surprised to see an outfit that looked like her clothes. Pulling the outfit out, she noticed that it looked identical to the one that man had shredded. However, it wasn't the same one. It seems that man had gone out and bought her another outfit. It was odd that it looked exactly like this because it had been custom made for her. He must have had quite the memory to remember how her outfit looked like.  
She quickly ran off into the restroom located off to the side, emerging a minute later, clad in her uual outfit. It had fit perfectly. She gave herself a little twirl, noticing that it had been a new outfit because the fabric wasn't worn in like her other one.  
"I'm impressed," she said, "It's not often a person comes along that manage to surprise me one surprise after another," She felt something in one of her pockets and reached in and pulled it out. It was a tiny piece of paper with some writing on it.  
'I know you woke up while I was carrying you'

"Have you seen a man that's about this tall, black hair spun into a pigtail, blue eyes...and...fine, I admit, very very handsome?" Lina asked a passerby. She had spent the pass hour asking passerbys if they had seen a man that fit Ranma's description. "Yes, I think I've seen someone that fit that description," a young girl said. She was with two of her female friends.  
"Well, tell me where he went," Lina said, almost getting angry.  
"I saw him down in the town square about two hours ago," she replied, "He was talking to these two girls,"  
Lina found herself getting angry for some reason at the mention of Ranma talking to two girls. Why did he have to talk to them? She took a deep breath and said, "Would you happen to know what they had been talking about?"  
"Probably asking him out," one of the girls commented with a slight grin. She gave a laugh but immediately stopped when she noticed Lina glare at her. It scared her.  
"Anyway, we saw him a while back," the other girl said, "I don't know if it's the same guy you were mentioning, but I'm pretty sure it was,"  
"All right, fine, thanks," Lina said.  
She turned around and headed off for the town square, making it there in record time. Upon arriving there, she noticed a whole bunch of passerbys, but none of them remotely fit Ranma's description. She continued looking around for him, wishing she could call out for him had she known his name.  
"Jeez, where the hell is that jerk?" Lina muttered to herself. She wasn't going to let him walk out of her life like that, not after leaving behind such an embarrassing message like that. She had to explain herself that she had been simply tired and wanted him to do the work of carrying her to an inn. She had wanted to conserve her enery and let him do all the work. Yeah, that's why.  
As she walked by the same buildig for the fifth time, she bothered to actually look at it and noticed that there were several posters posted on one of its walls. She walked up to it and gazed at the poster. It was a poster asking for worthy mercenaries willing to fight off a black dragon that keeps attacking the village at random times.  
"Hm, so this must be Tinial Village," Lina commented. She had once passed through this village before and had remembered someone realizing that she was the great Lina Inverse and asking her to rid the village of tha black dragon that resided in the mountains nearby. She hadn't accepted and went about her journey because they didn't offer her enough.  
"I haven't been in this village in months and they still haven't found someone to get rid of that dragon? Jeez, what a bunch of incompetent fools," she said.  
As Lina gazed at the poster one last time and then looked up, she caught sight of a familiar individual.  
Her heart skipped a beat as she realized it was the same man she had been with the pass couple of days. It was Ranma, fully dressed in his usual outfit. It seems he has found some clothing for himself. Her eyes widened as she noticed that he wasn't alone. Trodding behind him was this huge black dragon, roughly ten times larger than Ranma, a massive chain around its neck. When the dragon tried to raise its head and hopefully cause Ranma to be swept off his feet, Ranma had simply turned toward the dragon and gave the chain a good jerk. Lina couldn't really understand how this could happen. The dragon was strong enough to simply take off flying and Ranma would be helpless to prevent it because there was no way he would be able to hold the dragon on the ground. Ranma was probably only a thousandths of the dragon's weight.  
And above that little feat, how that man managed to chain that huge dragon was also incomprehensible.  
"Hey, quite yer jerking around," Ranma turned toward the dragon, jerking the chain and causing the dragon's head to come down near Ranma's, "I caught ya fair and square. You knew that sooner or later that your terrorizing days would end and that someone would come and kill ya. Just be lucky I just captured ya,"  
Lina watched Ranma ask he continued walking down the street, oblivious to the gazes everyone was giving him. Just as he was walking past Lina, he noticed her.  
"Oh, I'm glad you're awake," he smiled warmly. He turned his attention back on the street and continued his journey.  
"Where are you going?"  
Ranma said, "To turn this dragon in and pay back my debt. You don't think those clothes you're wearing are free, do ya?"  
Lina bit her lip. This meant Ranma had done her a favor. "Hey, I never asked you to buy me some clothes,"  
"You mean you'd rather go about in your bra and panties?" he smirked. He continued walking. When Lina caught up to him, he said, "Hey, why're ya following me? Are you attracted to me or something?"  
Lina blushed a horrible shade of red. She couldn't believe how such a silly comment could embarrass her like that. She shouted, "You've gotta be kidding! There is no way in hell I would be attracted to you! Never!"  
"So why're ya following me?" he asked.  
"I wanted to tell you...about the other night," she said, "The reason why I woke up and then went to sleep is so I can conserve my energy. I figured I might as well let you do all the work instead of having to walk also,"  
"Fine, then you're welcome," Ranma replied, continuing on.  
"I wasn't trying to thank you!"  
"Look, can you please leave me alone?" Ranma turned toward her, regarding her intently, "We started off on the wrong foot but what's done is done. We can't change that. I did you the favor of going out and buying some new clothes for you. Now we're even. So just lettme go about with my business and you with yours,"  
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" she asked.  
"Yeah," he said matter-of-factly.  
"Well, you're not going to get rid of me that easily," Lina snapped, "You still owe me,"  
"Owe you? For what?"  
"For having seen me naked," she said.  
Ranma walked up to the town hall and knocked on the door. After having done that, he turned toward her, "Hey, it wasn't my fault. Jeez, what the hell do you want from me?"  
Lina smiled, "Monetary compensation,"  
Ranma regarded her, "Is that it?"  
"I guess,"  
"Okay, fine, you can have all the money I'll receive when I bring the dragon in. After that, you'll leave me alone?" he asked.  
"R-Really?" Lina's eyes widened. She had seen the reward to be given to the death or capture of the black dragon. It would set her for several months without worry.  
The door opened and out emerged the mayor of the town. He gazed up at the dragon and then at Ranma.  
"Here's the dragon," Ranma said, "Like I promised. What you do with it is not my business,"  
The mayor nodded meekly before disappearing back into the town hall. A minute later emerged several heavily arms guards, whom took hold of the chain Ranma had been gripping. They led the dragon around the block to the back of the house.  
"How can I ever thank you?" the mayor said, "That dragon had been a nusance for so long,"  
"Just pay off my debt to the store, 'Joan's Outfitters'. I owe them some money for having made me an outfit. And give the rest of the reward to this girl," he said, jerking a thumb toward Lina.  
The mayor glanced at Lina for a moment and then nodded. He disappeared back into the hall and reappeared a moment later with a bag full of gold. He handed it to Lina, no questions asked, and said, "I'll send one of my staff to pay your bill for the store you mentioned,"  
Lina's eyes widned at the sight of so much money. There must had been fifty gold pieces in that bag. "It's been nice knowing you," Ranma said, bowing toward Lina politely before he headed off down the street.  
"Wait! Are you serious? How can you just walk away from this much money?" Lina had to ask.  
Turning to face her, he said, "Because all the money I'll ever need is for food. That's all I care about. You can keep the rest,"  
"Well, I guess a deal's a deal," Lina said, hugging the bag of gold close to her chest, "I'll leave you alone. But before you leave, I'd like to know your name,"  
"Why bother, you'll probably never see me again," he replied. He then shrugged his shoulders and said, "But what the heck, I might as well tell you anyway. My name's Ranma Saotome,"  
Lina smiled, "Well, I'm Lina Inverse,"  
"Well, Lina, it's been nice knowing you. Goodbye,"  
He turned around and left, not bothering to look back.  
For the first time since she met him, Lina felt this empty feeling within her.

Lina had made a fortune in the past few days since she and Ranma had gone their seperate ways. She had been smart enough to project an image of Ranma taking a bath and having girls pay to see it. Sure, it was similar to what she had done with her sister, Luna, but she wasn't at all worried about the consequences. Afterall, they would probably never see each other again.  
After having made a bundle for the third day straight, Lina started feeling a bit depressed for some reason. She couldn't believe how many females would be desperate enough to pay for something like this. With men it was understandable. What had probably made her depressed was when one of the females made a comment about how Lina must had been a really lucky girl to met someone so handsome. She had denied having felt lucky. But as more and more females turned up for the 'show of the century', Lina started wondering if that many girls were swooning over Ranma this very moment. Even after a few days, she still hadn't gotten over the fact that she had gotten angry when that girl had commented about her seeing Ranma talking to two girls down by the town square.  
When she thought about it, Ranma wasn't all that bad a guy. They had just gotten off on the wrong foot. She had long forgiven him for that. It wasn't worth it to hold a grudge. But then again, Ranma was the type of person she had trouble holding a grudge against. "I wonder what happened to him," she found herself saying as she gazed out of a window of an inn one rainy day. Since she didn't want to be out in the rain, it gave her time to think. Unfortunately, it was kind of hard not to think of Ranma.

Lina sighed as she gazed down at the unconsious bodies. There were probably more than twenty bandit strewn about a single campfire with Lina standing before that fire. Lina had stumbled upon a bandit's campground and had attacked it, hoping to find something good to loot. Although she still had more than enough money from the bagful Ranma had given her, it would never hurt to have more. She hadn't anticipating it to be this simple to incapacitate twenty people with a single fireball. There was a single conscious bandit, his wrists and ankles tied as he lie on his stomach. Where was the challenge? There had only been on person in a long long time that had provided any challenge to her.  
For a brief moment, she missed Ranma. "What the hell am I thinking of?" she told herself, believing she must be some kind of sicko to be thinking this. This was the same man that annoyed her to hell and back, than had shredded her clothes, that had actually deflected her own fireballs back at her, that...that had done the kind gesture of carrying her, that had repaid his debt to her by giving her his reward.  
She looked down at the bag of gold in her hands, "This is all you've got? There isn't even enough here to last two days," she asked the consious bandit.  
"I-it's all w-we have left,"  
"Left? What do you mean by that?" Lina asked curiously. Bandits had a tendancy of collecting treasure, not spending it.  
"Someone else had attacked us before you," the bandit said.  
"Who?"  
"I-I dunno. He had black hair and blue eyes,"  
That must have been Ranma, Lina thought. But why would he attack them? If he had the decency to pay back his debt to that clothing store where he had gotten our clothes, then why would he attack them? They're just ordinary bandits so they wouldn't have bounties on their heads. What gives?  
"Why did he attack?" she asked.  
"Um, w-well, h-he didn't really attack," the man said, "H-he had stumbled upon o-our campground and had asked for food. W-when we tried to attack him, he had fought back and had taken our foodcart,"  
"That doesn't explain why you have so little loot for me to steal from you guys," she commented.  
"Um, well, we had all our loot hidden in the food cart," came the reply.  
"How much?"  
"T-thirty pieces,"  
"Thirty pieces?" Lina gasped. That was more than the reward Ranma had given her. She would be living quite splendidly if she got her hands on that. And since she knew Ranma had no real need for money, perhaps he might not mind giving it to her.  
Lina smirked. She would find Ranma. If he was carrying thirty pieces of gold, then she wanted it. Afterall, Ranma had said he didn't care about the money. What better way for him to relieve himself of the burden of carrying so much gold than to give it to a sweet girl like her.  
"Which way did this man go?"  
"West,"  
Ranma was enjoying his meal as he sat on the foodcart which sat in front of a campfire when he caught a familiar sight. He had been about to finish his meal and get ready to set up a makeshift tent to spend the night because it was getting pretty dark, when Lina appeared from one of the shadows.  
"Not you again," he muttered.  
"Hey, is that anyway to talk to a lady?" Lina smirked, glad to have found him. She had seen a campfire from a nearby mountain and had hoped it was Ranma's. Her guess proved right.  
"I don't see no lady, do you?" Ranma smirked, his mouth full of food. Lina's facefaulted. She couldn't believe how much she had disliked Ranma. Perhaps having been away from him for a few days did that to a person.  
"I'll let that slide," Lina said, her anger starting to build. She took a deep breath.  
"Whatcha doin' out here?" he asked, hopping off the foodcart and leaning against it.  
Lina answered, "Well, I was just in the neighborhood and figured I should drop in,"  
Ranma chuckled, "Yeah right, I betcha you just want something,"  
"No," she replied a bit too quickly. She cleared her throat and said, "Um, I notice that foodcart behind you. Where did you get it?"  
"I stole it from a whole buncha bandits," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He then realized something and turned toward the foodcart, "Oh, I found something in here that ya might want,"  
He produced a bag of gold and threw toward Lina who caught it with eager hands. Lina managed to hide her joy and said, "Um, w-what's this for?"  
"I found some gold in the foodcart. Since I'm only interested in the food, you can have it," he said.  
"Y-you're just giving it to me?" Lina was thoroughly surprised. She didn't even need to ask him. She had been thinking of a way of finding out of he had the gold and a plan of stealing it from him, but here he was, giving it to her, making all that time spend planning void.  
Ranma shrugged his shoudlers, "I guess. I don't want it so you might as well have it," He walked over to a nearby tree and sat next to it, his back against it. He closed his eyes, "If you don't want it, chuck it in a lake or something. I have no use with it,"  
"But gold can buy you things," Lina commented. This man was starting to get on her nerves. How could anyone not want money?  
"But it can't buy buy me a way home," he said softly to himself.  
"What did you say?"  
"Nothing," he said, leaning his head back against the tree and waiting for sleep to bestow him.  
When Ranma woke up, the campfire had died out. It was now somewhere around eight in the morning. He got up to his feet and stretched out, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. As he stretched, he noticed something fall to his feet. Picking it up, he noticed it was a cape, Lina's cape. He hadn't noticed it at first, but it must had been placed on him as if it were a blanket. Sure, it wasn't that he needed a blanket to keep warm, but he had to admit that the gesture was nice of her.  
Looking around, he noticed Lina was no where to be seen. It didn't really surprise him, though. She was very independent, afterall. He looked at the cape in his hands and wondered what he should do with it. Figuring Lina would want it back some day, he threw it into the foodcart. Looking down at the foodcart, Ranma stood very still, wondering what he was going to do now. He had just found out the other day that he was on a totally different world, that China didn't exist. Because if this, he is led to believe that there would be no nanban mirror. He had been spending most of his time eating dinner and wondering how the heck he was going to get out of this mess, how he was going to get back home, when Lina had appeared.  
Because she had been there, he had momentarily forgotten about his problems in Getting home, what with him having to deal with the one named Lina Inverse, but now that she was gone, he had time to think.  
"Damn, how the hell am I gonna get home," he muttered to himself. He looked into the foodcart and noticed that there wasn't all that much food left since he ate most of it last night.  
Figuring it was useless to wheel the foodcart with him where ever he went, Ranma decided that it was best to have a hearty breakfast and simply ate the remaining food.  
With no more food to worry about, thus, no foodcart to wheel, Ranma proceeded west where he had caught sight of a village from a clifftop a while back. He had no real idea what to do, but he figured there might be some way of getting home and that being in a village full of people, people that might know of a way, was a lot better than staying out in the woods alone.  
Not knowing what to do with the cape, Ranma threw it around his shoulders. Without even needing to look, he knew the cape looked too small on him, what with him being both taller and bigger than Lina, but it didn't bother him. He had other things to worry about.

"Who is he?" Ranma asked, almost jumping with joy. While on his way toward the village he had seen earlier, he had come up with a plan to getting home. Although it was a long shot, it was better than nothing. He wanted to find the most powerful sorceror on this world. Perhaps he would be able to send Ranma back.  
Ranma had spent most of his day going from one tavern to another, asking the locals if they know who that person was, much to no avail. That was why Ranma was so surprised when someone gave him an answer after he had just about given up.  
"No, the person isn't a 'he' but a 'she'," the tavern keeper said. He was the one that knew quite a bit about the world, a rarity nowadays.  
"All right, who is she?" Ranma asked.  
"Her name is Luna Inverse," the man said.  
"L-Lina Inverse? S-she's the most powerful?" he said, nearly falling off the barstool.  
The keeper chuckled and said, "No, not Lina Inverse. Luna Inverse. She is Lina's older sister,"  
"How do you know this stuff?" Ranma had to ask, curious.  
"Well, I actually know quite a bit. Being a tavern keeper and all, you listen to people from all over the world tell you their stories and the people they've met. I've never actually met her before, but I have heard stories of her through other people. That's the extent of my knowledge of her,"  
"Do you think this Luna Inverse person is the most powerful?"  
"I dunno. Your guess is as good as mine,"  
Ranma frowned. So it was basically a shot in the dark.  
"Well, do you know where I can find her?"  
"I'm sorry, but I don't know. All I know is that she lives west of here. In a town called Zeifielia. That's all. Sorry I can't help you out much,"  
"Thanks anyway,"

Ranma wondered where Lina could be as he wandered the streets of the village that night. If anyone were to know where Luna is, then her sister would be it. However, the problem was finding Lina, where ever she was. He asked passerbys if they had seen a girl that fit Lina's description, much to no avail. He continued to do this until it got dark before finally giving up and calling it a day. He would continue asking tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and so on until he would find her. Besides, it wasn't as if he were going anywhere anyway.  
Through some stroke of luck, Lina ended up walking into the exact same tavern that Ranma had been in two days ago. She had been just about to sit down to order some food when the bartender said something to her as she was walking by.  
"Hey, aren't you Lina Inverse?" he asked. "The one and only," she smirked. Her eyes narrowed a bit, "Why do you ask?"  
"There was some fellow here looking for you?"  
"Oh?" that piqued Lina's interest.  
"You fellow. Looked to be in his twenties or so," the man said. He held his hand up about a foot above Lina's head, "He was about this tall, had black hair and blue eyes,"  
"Did he wear a red shirt and black pants?"  
"As a matter of fact, he did,"  
"What did he want?"  
"He was asking around for you," came the reply.  
"H-he was?" a slight blush came to Lina's cheeks. There was no reason for this to happen to her, but she couldn't help it, "Do you know where he went?"  
The bartender shook his head, "I'm sorry. All I know was that he headed west after he left,"  
Lina sighed, "West? That's it? Can't you be a little bit more specific?"  
"Sorry,"

Ranma seemed to always be in the right place at the right time. At around one in the afternoon, he had been walking down the only dirt trail through the forest when he came upon a clearing. Upon emerging from the woods and into the circular clearing, he was shocked to see a dozen bodies strewn about. Just off to the right was the broken remains of a carriage.  
"What the?" he seemed surprised. He walked up to one of the bodies for a closer inspection and noticed that, judging from the person's attire, seemed like some kind of royal guard. He held a shield that was adorn with a crest that probably belonged to the family of the member he was supposed to protect.  
As he gazed down at the body, he heard what sounded like a battle, the clash of swords heard faintly, beyond the clearing and within the woods just beyond.  
He quickly ran back into the woods, running for about a hundred meters before he caught sight of a battle. He came to a sliding halt when he caught sight of a single armored soldier, the royal guard from Ranma's assumption, as he battled three bandits, the three of them holding swords. At least they looked like bandits, but Ranma couldn't be sure.  
"Jus' give us the princess and you'll live," one of the bandits said.  
"Never!" the guard said, his sword at the ready. The man looked badly injured. There were many scratches in his armor where swordblade seemed to have met steel.  
Ranma's eyes widened. The guard took a slight step toward the right, revealing to Ranma view a young woman, the woman the man had been trying to protect. She seemed terrified.  
The guardsman managed to dispatch one bandit with a well placed upward slash, but was stabbed through the opening between his his shoulder plates and breast plate by the second bandit.  
Ranma watched as the guardsman slashed upward, cutting off the second bandits arm at the elbow before he collapsed, unable to continue on, the extent of his injuries and the newly opened wound finally taken its toll.  
"R-run!" the guardsman said as he fell to his knees, right before he was stabbed in the back of his neck by the last remaining bandit, seeking revenge for his two comrades.  
The princess shrieked as the blood from the guardsman spewd out, staining her attire. She gazed up in terror as her assassin grinned at her, his sword ready to impale her.  
Before the bandit had a chance to follow through with his attack, Ranma was already behind him and tapping on his shoulder. As the bandit turned to face him, Ranma landed an open hand slap against the man's jaw, most likely dislocating in, sending the man flying through the air and slamming into a nearby tree when he slumped to the floor unconscious.  
The princess looked up at Ranma, not knowing how to react. She was still in shock over what had just transpired in the past ten minutes. She had been riding comfortably in her royal carriage when the bandits ambushed her and now she was the only one alive from the convoy.  
"You okay?" Ranma asked, figuring it was he would had to initiate the conversation.  
"Um...y-yes," she said meekly. She was still terrified. Nothing like this had ever happened to her.  
"What happened?" he asked.  
"We were a-ambushed,"  
"No duh," he said, smirking, "The dead bodies seemed to give it away,"  
The princess regarded Ranma for a moment. Was this man smiling? How could someone smile at a time like now? She definitely wasn't smiling!  
There was a moment of awkward silence before it was broken by Ranma. He said, "So...what do ya plan on doin' now?" He knew all the others were dead. He didn't even need to check.  
The princess steeled herself and said, "I must return to Anlinson,"  
"Anlinson? Where's that?"  
"It's a two day's journey west from here," she replied.  
"That's not that bad. I'm heading in that direction," he said. He reached a hand out and took hold of the princess' hand, "All right, c'mon, let's get goin' then,"  
The princess tried to jerk her arm away from Ranma's grasp, much to no avail, "Unhand me!"  
Ranma released his grip, the pricess falling down and onto her backside when she pulled at the exact same time he released his hand. Her eyes were wide as she then realized what had just happened, that she was sitting on the filthy floor.  
"You said for me to let go," Ranma said matter-of-factly.  
The princess got up to her feet, brushing her backside of dirt before looking up at Ranma, noting that he was very tall compared to her, that the top of her head only reached his collarbone.  
When another awkward moment ensued, Ranma stared back at her, "Yeah?"  
The princess let out an exasperated breath. "Do you know who I am?" she asked patiently. She had never been treated like this in her life.  
"Some kinda princess, ne?" Ranma asked.  
"I'm Rene Anlinson, daughter of Roun Anlinson, heir to the thrown of-"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "So?"  
"W-what?" the princess looked at Ranma with wide eyes. No one had ever cut her off when she had been speaking, "Why you uncooth-"  
Ranma sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Tell me this isn't happenin' to me...she's getting' pissed at me for saving her,"  
"Such vulgar language!"  
Ranma turned around and started walking away, "Goodbye. It was nice talking to ya. Good luck getting' home,"

Ranma came back to the place where the battle had taken place about a half hour later. He wasn't all that surprised to see Rene leaning against a tree, her legs pressed against her chest, her chin resting on her knees. He had been watching over her for all that time, but had kept out of sight, making her believe he had actually left her behind. He would had never left her behind. He wasn't like that.  
"You're still here," he said. It was a statement, not a question.  
"What do you want?"  
"Whatcha gonna do, just sit here and wait for someone to come along?" Ranma asked.  
"Yes,"  
"And what happens if a bandit shows up?" he smirked. He felt bad at scaring her, but if he had to do so to get her to follow him, then so be it.  
The princess said nothing for a moment. She gulped and said, "That had never occurred to me,"  
Ranma said, "We should get going,"  
Rene extended her hand. Ranma looked at it curiously.  
"Yeah?" he asked. It took him a moment before he realized she wanted him to help her up. He took her hand and helped her to her feet. When she was on her feet, she glared at Ranma for a bit, somewhat annoyed that it took him so long before he had realized he was obligated to help her to her feet. "Let's go," he said, heading off toward the west, "We've got a long way to go,"  
The princess stood where she was.  
"Now what?" he asked, very annoyed.  
Although somewhat used to Ranma's personality, it still bugged her that he actually showed his annoyance toward her. It was also very surprising that an individual would display such vulgarity in her precense.  
She said, "If you must know, since you're going to be my escort, that will mean you are to walk along side me," "You've gotta be shittin' me," Rene said weakly, "How long have we been walking? What times is it?"  
"About ten hours or so," Ranma answered, "It's probably around seven or seven thirty," He looked at her and immediately knew what had compelled her to ask. She looked dead tired. That wasn't all that surprising because she was a princess and probably never had to lift a finger to do anything, much less walk for the past six hours.  
"Let's eat. I'm starvin'," Ranma said, "Let's stop at the clearing just up ahead," He ran up ahead, totally forgetting the fact that he was supposed to be at Rene's side. He didn't even realize that Rene had been about to scold him by telling him that it was her job to decide when they should stop to eat. But then again, she would let this slide because he was new at this, being around royalty and how he should act.  
She would have to talk to him about that.  
Coming up to the clearing, she was very surprised at how fast Ranma worked. He had already in the middle of gathering a small pile of sticks for a campfire, which was good because she was a bit cold at the moment.  
She watched him as he picked up a whole bunch and then approached her. He dropped the pile of sticks by her feet and walked back off.  
Rene looked down at the pile of sticks. Surely, Ranma didn't expect someone like her to start a fire. Someone of her stature would never do something like that.  
"Yo, Rene, you know how to start a fire?" Ranma called out to her from the other side of the clearing. He was in the process of gathering rocks.  
"Surely you don't expect someone like myself to-"  
"Oh, I should've guess. You don't know how to," Ranma said, walking back up to her and dropping the rock by her feet. He knelt down and proceeded to stack the rocks in a circular formation.  
"And just what is that supposed to me?" Rene asked, a bit annoyed. How dare he assume anything of her!  
"There's no double meanin' in what I was saying," Ranma replied, "It simply means that you don't know how to start a fire. If ya wanna prove me wrong, then go right ahead,"  
Rene looked down at the pile of sticks that Ranma had proceeded to place within the circle of rock. She wondered what she should say. She didn't know how to start a fire.  
"Here, lettme show you," Ranma said.  
He proceeded to explain how one would go about starting a fire. Rene didn't bother to listen until Ranma almost snapped at her and said, "C'mon, Rene, listen. I ain't gonna explain this again. This shit could come in handy,"  
Rene, almost afraid of Ranma, listened intently.  
Within a few minutes, there was a campfire. Rene had to admit that the campfire provided quite a bit of warmth. It was a rather chilly evening, afterall.  
"All right, now that the fire's up," Ranma said, getting gup to his feet, "I'm gonna go find us some food. Jus' keep the fire goin'. I'll be back in a short while,"  
"Don't tell me what to do," Ranma pretended like he was ripping the hair from his head in frustration, "Will you quit actin' like there's a stick up yer butt? Have ya any idea what kinda predicament you're in? You're stuck in the middle of nowhere, two days away from home, with no one even aware of you havin' been ambushed, and you still believe acting like a princess really matters,"  
Rene was a bit shocked at Ranma snapping at her like that.  
"Why I have never-"  
Ranma got up and proceeded to walk away and toward the forest, "Once again, I'm gonna go find us some food. Jus' keep the fire going,"

It took Ranma half an hour before he emerged out into the clearing. To his surprised, the clearing didn't flicker from the campfire because the campfire was now out. Sitting near the campfire was Rene, her legs bent against her chest, her chin resting on her knees as she stared down at the burnt out campfire.  
Ranma quickly rushed toward Rene and noticed that she was shivering.  
"W-why'd you let the fire go out?" he asked. He knelt down next to her, "Holy shit, you're freezing,"  
Rene was indeed freezing. She had choosen to let the campfire go out, to show Ranma that she wasn't going to do his bidding. However, after ten minutes, when she realized how cold the area got without the camefire, she had grown to regret it, especially when she forgot how to restart the campfire.  
Ranma sighed and then chuckled.  
"What so funny?"  
"You're trying to prove a point to me, ne?" he asked. He proceeded to start the fire, getting it started after a few minutes, but not until after replacing all the sticks.  
When the fire was up again, Rene could feel the warmth from it. She decided to answer his question and said, "I was just trying to let you know that you have no control over me and that you can't tell me what to do,"  
"Did it work?" he asked with a smirk, "All that seemed to do was make you shiver in the cold for about half an hour,"  
Rene said nothing. She really disliked this man. Why did he have to be right?  
"Well, what's done is done," he said after a minute or so, "I'm too hungry to continue arguin'. Let's eat,"  
"Eat? Eat what?" Rene asked. She noticed that Ranma was holding a couple of dead fish in his hands, "Eat that? You have got to be kidding me,"  
Ranma ignored her as he used one of the sticks and jammed it into the fishes mouth so that it would emerge from its tail. After doing so, he handed one of the fish on the stick to Rene, "Here ya go,"  
Rene crossed her arms, indicating that she refused to take hold of something so disgusting.  
Ranma sighed. He turned toward the fire and proceeded to hold the two fish over it.  
"You don't expect me to eat something such as that, do you?" she asked after several long minutes. She wanted to break the awkward tension.  
"Hey, if you don't wanna eat it, then I'll eat it," Ranma answered, eyes intent on the fishes, "I'm starvin'. I could eat twenty of these and I'll still be hungry,"  
They said nothing aftewards. After several minutes, the fishes were done. Ranma pulled them from the fire and bit into one of them, nearly eating it whole with a single bite. In his other hand, he held the other fish on a stick.  
"Ya still want it?" he asked, mouth full.  
"You're so uncivilized, eating with your mouth full," Rene commented. Ranma bit into the rest of his fish, finishing it off. Throwing the stick away, he looked at the other fish on a stick. He smiled at it, and then at Rene, and then bit into it.  
"T-that was mine," Rene's eyes widened. Although it looked disgusting to be eating a fish cooked over a campfire, she was starving and probably wouldn't had minded eating it.  
Ranma asked, "Do ya still want it?"  
"But you've already took a bite of it," Rene commented.  
"Do ya still want it?" he repeated.  
Rene thought about it for a moment and then finally yielded and said, "Yes, I do,"  
She took hold of the stick and regarded the fish for a moment. She couldn't believe she was going to eat something like this, but she was too hungry to care. Just for once, she was going to abandon the way a princess should act. She bit into the fish, savoring its taste.  
Ranma smiled, "Hm, perhaps there is hope for ya, afterall,"

"You expect me to sleep on the ground!"  
Ranma said, "Where else do you plan on sleepin'? In the trees? Good luck from falling,"  
"I can't sleep on the ground," she said.  
"Why not?" he asked.  
"Because the ground is hard and cold and dirty," she replied matter-of-factly.  
"Of course it is," he said, "But where else to you expect to sleep? If you want, we can continue on walking and hope we come across a town, but we could probably miles and miles away from the nearest town. Ya wanna take that chance?"  
Rene took that into consideration for a moment. "I don't care if I sleep here and now or go on. You make the decision," he said.  
Several moment of thinking passed before Rene asked, "Um, what do you think we should do?"  
"Hey, you're the princess," Ranma smirked, "Aren't ya supposed to be the one that's supposed to be makin' all the decisions?"  
The muscles around Rene's jaw tightened. "I suggest we just call it a day and get some sleep," he said after a short while, "It's pretty late and the campfire'll keep us warm,"  
"That sounds like a good idea. Very well, we shall rest for the night, then," she said, sounding somewhat authoritive.  
Ranma laid down on his back, staring up at the skies and yawned, "Well, goodnight,"  
Ranma was fast asleep before Rene had a chance to ask him exactly how she was to get to sleep herself.

Rene felt horrible when she woke up. Last night had probably been the single worst night of her life. She had barely slept. She had been all too aware of the campfire finally burning itself out after several hours and of how could it had gotten. For a good portion of the night, she had taken glances toward Ranma and was very envious of how peacefully he slept. Even when the campfired had died out, he looked perfectly warm. Several times, she had wondered if snuggling up to him would had kept her warm. Of course, she never followed through with it. She couldn't follow through with it, shouldn't follow through with it.  
Looking around as she rubbed what little sleep she had out of her eyes, she surveyed her surroundings and noticed that Ranma was nowhere to be found.  
She was about to call of for Ranma but realized that she didn't know her escort's name. It had never occurred to her that Ranma knew her name but she didn't know his. Getting up, Rene looked down and noticed how wrinkled her outfit with. She had been wearing a white silk dress when she had met Ranma. Now the white dress was filthy from her having slept on the ground and there were splotches of blood from when the guardsman had been trying to protect her.  
"I need to get out of these dirty clothes and into clean ones," she commented in disgust. This had been the first time she had worn the same pair of clothes two days in a row.  
Just had been about to head on into the woods in hopes of finding Ranma, Ranma emerged from them and out into the clearing. In his hands he held a dead rabbit by its hind legs. "Looks like we're gonna be eatin' rabbit for our breakfast," Ranma grinned, gesturing to the rabbit.  
Rene regarded it for several moments, a bit disgusted at the thought of eating a rabbit.  
Ranma walked passed Rene and up to the campfire, replenishing the sticks and proceeding to get a fire started. When he walked past her, Rene noticed that Ranma's hair was wet.  
"How come your hair is wet?" she asked curiously.  
"There's a river just over that hill. It's where I got the fish last night," he answered, without looking, "I took a dip in it,"  
Rene's eyes widened, "But isn't the river freezing?"  
"Yeah," he replied, "But theren't nothing better than taking a dip in the freezing water to wake ya up. Ya might wanna give it a try sometime,"  
"Um, I'll take your word for it," she said a bit nervously. That man must be crazy. She was freezing right now and would do just about anything to get herself warmed up, and Ranma had voluntarily taken a dip in a freezing river. She could never do something like that.  
With the campfire now up, Ranma turned his attention toward the dead rabbit and skinned it with his bare hands. Rene had been forced to turn her attention away, unable to watch.  
It wasn't until Ranma had said that the food was ready did she turn back around. Although starving since the fish didn't fill her up completely last night, Rene couldn't bring herself to eat the cooked portion of rabbit Ranma offered her.  
Ranma hadn't hesitated in eating the rest of it. "Rene, you can't choose to be picky about whatcha eat," he commented, "It's basically eat what's presented to ya, go out and fetch your own food, which is harder than it seems, or go hungry,"  
"What about perhaps gathering berries and such?" she had to ask, "Surely, there has to be some bushes that have berries and such,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I guess so, but you're gonna hafta gather quite a bit of berries if you plan on making it a full meal," He smirked and added, "And dontcha go thinking I'm gonna be the one collecting them. If you want berries, you go fetch 'em,"  
There was a moment of awkward silence as Rene looke down at the cooked rabbit. It didn't really look like a rabbit. She was hungry and the rabbit did look pretty good right now.  
"I can't eat that," she finally said. "Then you're going to go hungry," he said matter-of-factly.  
At that moment, Rene's stomach grumbled. She was indeed hungry and the thought of getting even more hungry didn't sound all that appealing. She looke down at the rabbit. Right now, it looked really good.  
When Ranma noticed her looking at the food, he ripped off a small piece with his hand and held it out for her, "Here, try it. It's pretty good,"  
"I'm not going to eat that piece. You're hands must be dirty,"  
"Do you see any forks or spoons around?" Ranma said, "I sure don't. And second of all, I came from taking a dip in the river so I'm pretty sure my hands are cleaner than yours,"  
Rene looked down at her hands and noticed how dirty they were. Ranma was right about that. She would have to head down to the river and wash her hands if she were to handle to food herself. At at the moment, she was probably too hungry to do even that.  
Ranma held the piece of meat to Rene's mouth, "Here. Just eat out of my hand for the time being,"  
Rene looked down for a moment before she reluctantly gave in and took a bite of the meat from Ranma's hand. She chewed the meat for a short while and was surprised at how juicy the meat was.  
"Well, do ya like it?" he asked, a bit curious.  
"It's...it's sufficient," she finally said. She didn't want allow Ranma the pleasure of knowing that she believed the food was quite delicious.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders.  
"Whatever ya say," he said before taking a bit into the meat, savoring it. He then proceeded to rip pieces of meat off and feeding it to Rene, taking bites of it himself from the carcass he was holding in his hands.  
They continued to eat. When they were finished, Ranma chucked his bones over his shoulder and got up to his feet, looking down at his hands. His hands were greasy from the juices of the meat. After a moment, he chuckled, forgetting that there were no napkins around, and then proceeded to wipe his hands clean on his clothes.  
"How uncooth," Rene commented.  
Ranma extended his hand forward and grabbed Rene's hand. He grinned as Rene looked down at her dirty hand.  
"All right, let's see how you clean your hand,"

"Um,"  
"Yeah?" Ranma asked. He and Rene had been walking side by side for the past hour. They weren't talking to each other. Actually, Rene wasn't talking to Ranma, not after that stunt he had pulled on her, dirtying her hands like that. It annoyed her even more when she watched Ranma jump into the river, clothes on and all, emerging from it clean albeit wet, something that didn't seem to bother him despite the cold.  
She had tried to walk up to the river to clean her hand, only to take a wrong step, her foot becoming submerged in the freezing water. It hadn't been amusing that Ranma laughed at her clumsiness, but she had been secretly grateful that he had taken the time to dry her shoes over the fire before heading off on their journey.  
She had been silent for the past hour, doing nothing else but walking along and keeping her thoughts to herself. However, as she kept on walking and thinking, she had come to realize something.  
"There is something I wish to know," she steeled herself in asking.  
"What is it?"  
"What is your name?"  
"Does it really matter?" he asked seriously, "I mean, two days from now, you'll be back home and I'll be on my way. We'll never see each other again,"  
"What do you mean?" she asked. "Let's just say that I'm going to be going back home, and once I do, I have no intention of ever coming back," he said.  
"Is it because of me?" she saked out of nowhere. She had simply been curious.  
Ranma looked at Rene like she grew a third eye, "Huh?"  
"Nevermind. I had merely been curious as to what your name had been. That's all,"  
"It's Ranma. Ranma Saotome,"

Ranma and Rene emerged from the forest and were relieved to see a town. The town seemed somewhat busy, most likely a maret town instead of a residential one. There was a good reason considering it was located right by the mouth of the river, a dozen or so merchant ships docked there.  
"Jus' wait here for a moment," Ranma said, "Better yet, hide,"  
"For what?"  
"I'm gonna go steal us some clothes," he replied, "We can't have ya walkin' around town dressed in your attire. It'll give ya away. If no one is aware that you're the princess, then there'll be less chance of trouble or whatever,"  
Before Rene had a chance to say something, Ranma ran up ahead. She hid behind a tree, not because Ranma had told her to, but because she felt it would be prudent that no one see her. The incident that had left her with no escorts made her realize that she probably had many enemies, and it was all because she was a princess.  
She ended up hiding behind a tree a dozen meters away from where she had been, figuring it she should let Ranma suffer and start panicking about where she could had gone.  
She watched as Ranma disappeared into the crowd of people walking about. After a both ten minutes, her emerged and headed toward the part of the forest where she was hiding.  
When he got close enough, Rene was surprised to see that Ranma walked right up to the tree where she had hidden behind.  
"How did you know I was hidding behind this tree?" she asked curiously.  
Ranma smirked, "It isn't all that hard spottin' a white dress among a bunch of brown trees,"  
Rene glared at him for a moment. Was that his way of telling her she did a bad job of concealing herself? The nerve of him.  
Ranma extended his hand forward.  
Rene looked down at what Ranma was holding. Her eyes widened upon realization of what he held. The outfit wasn't even silk, but some rough material, most likely wool. It would chaff her delicate skin.  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
"You expect me to wear something like that?"  
"Yeah," he replied, "It's either that or continue wearing those dirty clothes of yours and risk being found out. It's your choice,"  
Rene's lips became a thin line as she stared at the outfit in Ranma's hands.  
"Look," Ranma said after a moment, "It's the only thing I could find. It's already bad enough that I stole these clothes from a clothing store,"  
Letting out and exasperated breath to show her disapproval of Ranma's choice in clothes, she reluctantly took it from Ranma's hands. When she grabbed hold of the outfit, a pair of panties fell out.  
"Oh yeah," he said, bending down and picking the panties up and holding it out for her, "I also stole ya a pair of panties. I figure if you were going to change outfits, why not change clothes completely,"  
She noticed they were silk panties and said, "I only wear cotton. Silk is uncomfortable," It wasn't until after she had said that did she realize she had told Ranma that didn't need to be told. It had simply come out.  
Ranma gritted his teeth, "Fine, then don't wear panties for all I care. You're being awefully picky for a person who has little choice in what she has on hand to wear. I'm gonna go wait on ahead while you get changed,"  
"Y-you expect me to get changed out here?" the thought appalled her.  
Ranma sighed, "Where else?"  
"We shall goto an inn," she replied.  
"All right, let's waltz into town with you wearing that expensive outfit while we go around lookin' for an inn. I'm sure no one will notice," he said sarcastically.  
Rene glared at Ranma.  
Ranma sighed, "Look, can you please jus' get changed. Just think of it as this, you'll only hafta put up with this for one more day. After that, you'll never hafta do it again,"  
After a moment, Rene reluctantly took the clothes and headed off into the forest to get changed.

Ranma quickly ran toward Rene's location when he had heard her scream.  
"What's wrong!" he said, emerging from the bushes.  
He was momentarily shocked to see Rene, totally naked, running around in circles.  
"Get it off of me! Get it off of me!" she shrieked.  
Ranma caught a quick glimpse of a bettle that was on Rene back, easily noticeable against her smooth skin, and flicked it off. "There, it's off. You've got nothin' to worry about anymore," he said, watching at the bettle took off toward the skies after it had found itself flying through the air a second ago.  
Rene ran forward, pressing her face against Ranma's chest.  
"Um," Ranma said nervously, standing very still, very aware of Rene's breasts being pressed against his stomach, "Er, y-you're naked,"  
Rene's fear disappeared when she realized where she was. She was pressed against Ranma, and was totally naked. It took a moment for the situation to finally settle in and then she finally screamed.  
She slapped Ranma.  
"Whatcha do that for?" Ranma rubbed his cheek, "I heard you scream,"  
"Pervert!"  
Ranma realized that Rene was still naked and quickly turned his back toward her, "I'm sorry. I-it's just that I heard you scream and all and figured you were in trouble,"  
"You're still here, you pervert!"

Rene glared at Ranma as they walked down the street, which was bustling with people. The streets were full of vendors, all of them selling anything and everything. It seemed as if there was some kind of annual flea market that moved into town for the day.  
Rene was now clad in the outfit Ranma had brought her. Although it was no where near as magnificant as the outfit she wore before, it did help make her fit in with the common people.  
"C'mon, will you quit looking at me like you're trying to burn a hole through my head?" Ranma said, "I'm sorry I saw you naked. It couldn't be helped. I thought you had been in trouble,"  
"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you peeped on me," she said.  
"I'm sorry," he said softly.  
"That's not good enough," she turned her attention away from him, her arms crossed in front of her chest.  
"What do you want me to do, get naked so you can get a look at me so we could be even?"  
Rene blushed a horrible shade of red, "N-no!"  
"Good," Ranma smirked, "Cause I wouldn't've done it for ya anyway,"  
"Hmph, it's not like I would've wanted to see you naked anyway," Rene retorted.  
Ranma's gaze was elsewhere. He was standing in front of a store, looking at all the rings for sale. The rings weren't all that magnificant, ranging from mediocre to somewhat decent. To Ranma, the most expensive looking ring looked like it would cost around five thousand yen back home.  
"Hey, did you hear what I was saying?" Rene asked, running up and next to him. "Hey, look at all of these rings," he commented, picking up a ring and inspecting it.  
"Might I interest you in a possible ring for your girlfriend?" the elderly female attendant asked.  
Rene blushed, "G-girlfriend?"  
"We're not a couple," Ranma replied matter-of-factly, "We're just travelling together,"  
Rene regarded Ranma's back for several moments as he looked at the rings. After a minute or so, she said in a soft voice.  
"Um, yeah, we're only travelling together,"

In the massive castle of the Anlinson royal family, his majesty, Roun, paced back and forth around his bedchambers.  
"Honey, I'm sure Rene's fine," Evina Anlinson, Rene's mother, said to her husband. Although she didn't pace around the bedroom like her husband, she was still worried sick about her daughter. When their daughter hadn't come back one the schedule day, they had sent out their fastest scouter to find out what could had happened. It had taken a full day before the terrible news had reached back home.  
"She better be," he muttered, "Whoever's taken her will suffer a horrible fate if a single hair on her had been harmed,"  
"I wish at least one of the guards had surivived," Evina commented, "That way, we'd at least know if she'd been kidnapped or could have at least escaped,"  
"I pray she's still all right," he said. He stopped his pacing, coming to a decision, and called out, "Emiko!"  
Before Roun even finished saying that person's entire name, a shadow appeared into the room, kneeling before him, startling Roun and Evina a bit.  
"You called, your majesty?" Emiko asked. Upon first glance at Emiko, it was easily discernible that she seemed to be some kind of ninja. She was clad in the traditional ninja outfit, her face totally concealed behind a mask over her mouth and nose. The only thing exposed were her eyes and the large mane of hair coming out through the back of the wrap that was covering over her most of her head. No one, not even the king had ever seen her face before, and it was best left that way because it was rumored that if anyone tried to remove the mask over her nose and mouth, then they would surely die. Although Emiko serves the king with undying loyalty, he would never test to see her loyalty to her master exceeded that of her loyalty toward her heritage as one of the members of the world's most powerful ninja group.  
"Yes," Roun said, managing to bring his heartbeat back to a normal rate, "I have a job for you,"  
"What is it you would like me to do?" she asked.  
"What else? Go find my daughter," he told her.  
"Yes, your majesty," she said before disappearing as fast as she had appeared earlier.  
Shortly after Emiko disappeared, Evina turned her attention toward her husband.  
"Roun, honey,"  
"Hm?" "Why didn't you send her out earlier?"  
"Um, er,"  
"You're sleeping on the couch tonight,"

Rene gazed out at the countryside as she and Ranma sat in the wagon. They had hitched a ride with a farmer, the man offering to let them bum a ride in his hay wagon all the way to the town where he planned to barter his crops for necessities. The town the farmer was headed toward was the halfway point to Rene's home.  
"The scenery's cool, huh?" Ranma asked, his arms behind him head as he laid on his back, his feet dangling over the edge of the back of the cart. Rene looked toward the surrounding area. They were heading down a dirt trail, large prairies on either side with luscious forest beyond. She had to admit that the scenery was nice. Unfortunately, she had trouble taking the scenery in because there was this pervading smell that almost made her gag. It was probably coming from the donkey that was pulling the wagon along.  
"What's wrong?" Ranma asked, sensing an uneasiness to Rene.  
"It stinks on this wagon. The stench is almost overwhelming," she commented, cringing her nose a bit.  
Ranma smiled at Rene. That was Rene all right.  
Rene felt a bit awkward when she noticed Ranma's gaze on her. Their eyes had met for a brief moment before she turned her gaze away.  
"What?" she said, a bit nervous.  
"I shoulda figured something like that would bother ya," he grinned.  
"What do you mean by 'figured'?" her eyes creased.  
Ranma chuckled a bit, a husky chuckle Rene noticed, as he said, "You should get outta yer castle or where ever ya live a bit more. Just look at the scenery, it's beautiful. You shouldn't let something like that smell keep you from enjoyin' something like that,"  
Rene regarded Ranma very intently. That made total sense. Her bedroom overlooked a great portion of Anlinson city and the forests beyond, but she had never really enjoyed the scenery before because whenever she looked out her bedroom window, she was mostly aware of her being cooped up in a castle instead of being outside with people her age.  
"You seem to be easily amused," she commented. Ranma said nothing for a moment.  
"It wasn't meant to offend, Ranma," she said. For the first time, she had called him by his name. It sounded weird saying his name. Although she had been aware of everyone's name, she had never referred to them by name before. It was something she never said.  
Ranma smiled slightly, "No, I'm not offended. It's just that I guess I learned to appreciate things a whole lot more considering all the things I've been through,"  
"Like what?" Rene asked, a bit surprised to notice that she had actually been interested in knowing more about what Ranma had meant.  
"Like going to the beach and making a sandcastle," he said.  
"What's so special about that?"  
"Think about it," he said, "Imagine letting you creativity take over and building what you believe is the best castle of them all...and then having the high tide come in and wash all of your work away,"  
"That doesn't sound all that amusing,"  
Ranma nodded, "True, it'll be a bit disappointing in seeing your hard work getting washed away, but then that'll mean you can start all over again and build another sandcastle, and perhaps believing that one will be better than the one before. It's also very fun trying to build a dam in front of the sandcastle in hopes that it'll stop the incoming tide," When he noticed that Rene was about to ask what was so fun about that also, he added, "The greatest part is believing that perhaps you can stop the inevitable. And who knows, sometimes it could actually work,"  
"Sounds like hard work," she commented.  
Ranma stood up in the wagon, "Imagine it, digging your fastest, racing against the incoming tide, doing whatever you can to stop but never having to worry if you succeed or not because you'll know you can start all over again," He proceeded to pretend like he acting out the scene, scooping up invisible sand with his hands.  
"'Oh no, here it comes, the water's almost there! Hurry, dig a moat, incase the water breaks through the dam,'" Ranma grinned, almost picturing he was there on the beach, "  
Rene's eyes widened as she seemed to join in, "Well, surely they'll be other around. Ask them to dig also,"  
Ranma smiled, "There ya go. See, now you get it. Even though we're not at the beach, knowing that you can go there, to build a sandcastle and such, is what something one can enjoy. That's the kinda stuff I like doing, that I enjoy doing,"  
Rene looked down at herself. Her heart was beating a bit rapidly, caught up in the moment. It was a very strange feeling, this exhilaration about something as simple as making a sandcastle.  
After a moment, her visage became sullen when she thought about it some more.  
"What's wrong now?"  
She smiled weakly, "I've never been to the beach before,"  
"What? You haven't?"  
"I've only read about them in books," she replied, "I can see it from the highest window within the castle, but I've never been there before,"  
Ranma smirked, "All right. How about this? We'll go to the beach when we getcha home,"  
"Really?" Rene's eyes brightened.  
"Sure, why not? It'll be fun," he said. Although she had gotten under Ranma's skin quite a bit of times, he had no objections of spending some more time with her, especially if she hadn't been to the beach nor made a sandcastle before.  
Rene cheered. She would be able to goto the beach, to make a sandcastle, to perhaps fight the incoming tide. It sounded grand, something she would never forget.  
At that moment, the wagon bounced from hitting a tiny hole in the dirt road. Because Ranma had been standing, the sudden movement caused him to lose his balance.  
Ironically, Ranma wouldn't had fallen what with his great sense of balance, but Rene quickly reached out to steady Ranma, grabbing onto his leg, making him unable to catch his balance. Ranma ended up tumbling forward and out of the wagon, bring Rene along with him. They both hit the ground with a thud, Rene's fall cushion by Ranma's body being below her.  
As the lay in the middle of the dirt road, now dirty from the fall, Ranma started laughing. He found it very funny that they had just fallen from a wagon, something that required effort to do, something they seemed to have done effortlessly.  
Pretty soon, Rene started laughing, Ranma's amusement contagious.  
After a minute of laughing, Ranma got up to his feet, helping Rene to her feet also. As he helped her, their eyes had held contact for that moment. It had been the first time she had noticed Ranma's eye color. Emiko gazed from the tree tops. Through absolute luck, she had stumbled upon the campsite Ranma had just set up. It was a bit odd that she would stumble upon the princess so quickly. It was as if they were camped directly in the middle of the path between the castle and the location the ambush had happened.  
She watched the scene before her intently. The princess was clad in a simple outfit, probably something her captor made her wear so that she wouldn't be all that recognizeable. Emiko had to admit the captor was pretty smart in doing that.  
She watched at the captor say something toward the princess, but because of her vantage point, she couldn't hear what they were saying. She noticed the man look in her direction, and that made her wonder if he had been aware of her presence. No. It was impossible. She was extremely skilled in the art of stealth, no one ever able to detect her until it was too late.  
The hairs on the back of Ranma's neck stood on end as gazed up from the campfire, a campfire Rene had actually made, and toward the shadowy trees surrounding them. It was looking in Emiko's general direction but not directly at her.  
"Somethin' wrong?" Rene asked. When she looked at Ranma, she became a bit concerned. Something had Ranma on edge, and she didn't like that one bit. She had been with Ranma long enough to know that he was someone that wouldn't get worried about his surroundings unless something was wrong.  
Ranma didn't reply to Rene's question. His heart was beating rapidly. It was an odd feeling, to be this nervous, but whatever it was, it was something he didn't like one bit. He sensed something within the trees but couldn't tell exactly what or where it was.  
"What's wrong? You're making me nervous," Rene said, scuttling closer toward Ranma. It was instinctive of her to move closer toward her protector when she felt scared and threatened.  
"There's something out there," Ranma said softly, trying to keep his voice soft and soothing.  
Rene gulped, terrified, "W-what is it?"  
"I dunno," he replied, scanning around the surrounding trees. He sensed something but it disappeared. However, his gut feeling told him it was still there, where ever it was. "I'm gonna put out the fire," Ranma told Rene.  
"W-what? Why?" Rene asked. The last thing she wanted was the fire to be distinguished, "Without it, there'll be n-no light,"  
"Exactly," he answered.  
Rene shook her head, "No, I don't want you to. I-I'm scared,"  
Ranma placed a hand on her shoulder, "Jus' trust me,"  
"F-fine," she said.  
Ranma kicked dirt on the campfire, extinguishing it.  
Emiko watched the scene play out before her. She had watched Ranma put the campfire out. Something within her was telling her that the man was aware of her. The man was good, really good. The only person that had ever detected her was her master, the captain of her clan.  
She patiently waited. She wanted the man to be away from the princess, so he wouldn't be able to harm her in desperation.  
Ranma called out, "I know you're out there!"  
Emiko said nothing. She had to be patient. It was probably a coincidence that the man believed she was watching them. There was no way the man could sense her.  
Ranma waited for a full five minutes before he turned toward the terrified Rene, who was very close to him, "Let's get the heck outta here. On the count of three, jump into my arms. We're gonna make a break for it. I'm gonna carry ya,"  
Rene gulped and stood very close to Ranma. Although she didn't like the thought of being told what to do, she was too scared to argue.  
"One,"  
Emiko's eyes narrowed as she watched them through the dark. The man was up to something. She just wished she was close enough to hear.  
"Two,"  
Figuring that something was going happen, and perhaps it being something bad to the princess, Emiko proceeded to make her way closer to the two individuals, not making a single sound, her presence supposedly completely concealed.  
"Three," Ranma said, his heart skipping a beat. He definitely felt the presence getting closer. Without wanting to stay to find out what the presence was since it would be easier to avoid it than to fight it, Ranma picked Rene up into his arms, Rene wrapping her arms around his neck tightly, her head resting against the crook of his neck and right shoulder.  
"Hang on tight," Ranma said before taking off in a mad sprint away from where he had first sensed the presence. The speed of his take off was so powerful that a crater was formed from Ranma's feet propelling him forward.  
"What the?" Emiko's eyes widened as she watched the man dashing away from her and into the woods. She quickly followed suit.  
Ranma continued to jump from branch to branch, every branch breaking from his feet propelling off them, even some small trees becoming uprooting and falling over.  
"Man, I should use my wings," Ranma muttered, continuing to run and jump through the woods.  
"What did you say?" Rene asked, believing she had heard him say something, perhaps something to her.  
"Don't worry about it," he said.  
Rene dared to peek over Ranma's shoulder and caught sight of a shadow behind her. She shrieked, her heart at her throat.  
"I-I see it!" she yelled into Ranma's ears.  
Taking that into consideration, Ranma darted even faster. He needed to get out of these woods and fast. He didn't bother looking back. Eventually, he would make it out of the woods.  
Emiko continued to follow Ranma. Chasing after him was child's play. She could move twice as fast through the woods if not faster. However, she had never tried doing it while carrying someone. She had to admit that the man possessed great strength and endurance to move so fast and for so long.  
"It's playing with me," Ranma said, smirking a bit. He was no longer scared. Rather, he was feeling a bit exhilarated. He hadn't felt this good in a while. Now that he knew the presence was following him, he took a glance back and caught sight of a human silohuetted against the moonlight that seeped in through the open areas of trees.  
The pursuit lasted for a good ten minutes before Ranma made it to an open area. This time, it was a wide open area. If the person wanted to follow after him, he or she would have to also come out into the open area or risk losing track him and Rene.  
Stopping in the middle of the open field, Ranma turned his attention toward the figure a short distance away from him.  
"So, the person followed me into the open area," Ranma smirked, placing Rene down. The battle would be easier now that there were no trees around. He shouted out toward the figure, "Who are you? What do you want?"  
Emiko didn't reply. She continued to walk closer and closer. The moment she was within range, she would launch her shuriken at the man. Even if Rene was close to him, of directly in front of him, Emiko would not miss. The man was larger than Rene, thus, a larger target than Rene could cover.  
Ranma said to Rene, "Get away from her. I think a fight's gonna happen, and I don't wantcha getting' hurt. I've got the funny feeling it's gonna be between me and him or her,"  
He watched as Emiko got closer and closer. Although she was about a good hundred meters away, Ranma could discern the ninja-like attire. So, I'm gonna be up against a ninja, huh, Ranma thought with a smirk.  
He waited patiently as Emiko approached. By now, Ranma was calm as could be. Now that he was aware of who or what his opponent was, he wasn't all that worried.  
Emiko smirked. The man was standing away from of Rene. He was going to die a quick death.  
In a blink of an eye, Emiko broke out at a sprint toward Ranma and near supersonice speed, and with speed faster than humanly possible, she launched six shuriken at Ranma, each one aimed at a vital point. Ranma's heart skipped a beat when he saw the shuriken flying toward him. It came him at such a high speed that it caught him by surprised. However, he was easily able to swat three of them away, dodging the last three.  
Just as he swatted the shuriken away, Ranma was narrowly missed by a dagger stab that would had pierced right into his chest and heart. He had managed to sidestep the other way, grabbing Emiko's blade between his index finger and thumb before the blade managed to connect with skin.  
Ranma grinned, looking right into Emiko's eyes, as he said, "Ya almost got me there," He then lashed out with an open hand strike toward Emiko's chest. The shear speed of his attack seemed to rip through the air, causing a sonic boom, only narrowly dodged when Emiko leaned backwards at the waist and kicking a leg out toward Ranma's chest, her other leg keeping her balanced.  
Just before Emiko's foot managed to connect, Ranma released his grip on the blade and used his other hand to push her foot toward the side, missing his chest. However, she used the momentum of Ranma pushing her foot aside and hopped onto that foot and used the one she had been previously using to hold her upright to execute a wicked heel kick to the side of Ranma's head.  
The heel of Emiko's foot managed to actually connect, but the moment it connected, the nanosecond her heel touched Ranma's temple, Ranma titled his head in the direction of the incoming attack and stepped in the direction it had been moving, capturing the foot between his shoulder and the side of his head, like the way someone would hold a phone receiver without their hand.  
Emiko was absolutely shocked when she regarded the situation. Her she was standing on one leg, her other leg raised high in the air with her foot caught between Ranma's head and shoulder.  
She quickly stabbed at Ranma with the hand holding the dagger, shooting it under her captured leg, only to have it intercepted again between his index and thumb. With one hand holding the blade, Ranma used his free and and shot it up and around the leg, his hand gripping the ankle close to his ear, his arm brushing quite intimately across her inner thigh.  
Emiko almost yelped at the invasive touch Ranma had done to her, and then quickly found herself falling to the ground when Ranma stepped forward and used one of his legs to kick out Emiko's standing leg from behind, sending her crashing down and onto her backside, Ranma falling down and on top of her. They both tumbled on the ground, eventually ending up with Emiko lying on her back, one of Ranma's leg resting over her face and the other over her chest, her arms stretched out ninty degrees from her body, Ranma holding the wrist tightly. Ranma had just placed an armbar hold on Emiko. Her arm would be hyperextended and would eventually break at the elbow if Ranma administered any pressure.  
Ranma held her in the position for close to a minute as Emiko struggled to break free, very much aware that he could break her arm at any time, much to no avail.  
After a minute, Emiko became tired from struggling, but she never stopped trying. She did stop struggling when Ranma released his grip of her, rolling backwards and onto his feet. She seemed to be momentarily shocked that he had let her go instead of incapacitating her by breaking her arm.  
"You yield?" he asked. He didn't really want to fight anymore. She was a good fighter, but his skill far exceeded hers it wasn't even funny. He had fought superboomers, Angels, Adam, old rivals like Saffron and Taro and Herb, an EVA, and those damn Angels Revisited for god's sake. Emiko flipped up to her feet and threw six shurinken's at Ranma, each aimed at his vital points. Ranma waved his hand in front of him, conjuring an AT field. It only formed along the path of Ranma's hand, which had been in front of all his vital points.  
The shuriken hit the impenetrable barrier and fell to the ground.  
"You yield?" he repeated. He grinned a bit. He must look so cool right now.  
Emiko took a step back. She didn't expected the man to be a powerful magic user also. He didn't even need to cast the barrier spell like other magic users, the barrier seemingly instinctive.  
Emiko threw the last of her shuriken, only to have Ranma swat them out of the way. He caught the last one and began flipping it up and down, eventually balancing it at his fingertip.  
"You yield yet?" Ranma seemed annoyed now. It was either have her yield or strike her sleep pressure point. He didn't hit girls. He had found out she was a female during the battle when he had her in that arm bar, able to feel her breasts brushing against the back of one of his legs.  
Emiko threw her dagger, Ranma catching it between the index and middle finger of his other hand just a centimeter about the indent between his eyes, all the while still balacing the shuriken.  
Ranma let out and exasperated breath and walked forward, throwing the dagger and shuriken away. When Emiko executed a knife hand toward Ranma's chest, intent on piercing her fingertips through his ribcage, Ranma grabbed it with one hand. He then used his free and and grabbed at Emiko's right breast.  
Emiko shrieked as she felt Ranma's hand brush against her breast. She used her free hand and slapped him.  
Ranma gritted his teeth. What is it with girls, he thought. When they thought he was some kind of pervert, their slap always connects. He shrugged off the stinging sensation in his cheek and touched the pressure points on Emiko's right breast. He saw the shocked look in Emiko's eyes before they closed and she slumped forward and into his arms, fast asleep.  
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, glad she had slapped him instead of perhaps kicking him in the groin. That would had hurt much more.

Emiko awoke with a start, quickly hopping to her feet, and into a defensive stance. She quickly surveyed her surroundings and noticed that she seemed to be in the same area where she had been fighting. It was night time but the surrounding area was illuminated by a campfire. Looking at where the light had been coming from, she saw a tiny capfire with the princess and Ranma gathered around it. Emiko was also near the capfire since she seemed to have been cold when she awoken.  
"Have a nice sleep?" Ranma smirked. He had been paying close attention to her sleeping. She had slept for over six hours before his pressure point technique had finally subsided. He had to admit that most people slept longer.  
Recognizing her target and her objective sitting next to her, Emiko rushed forward toward Rene, hoping to grab onto her and make a break for it. She was stopped when Ranma reached a hand out and grabbed one of her ankles as she tried running past, she falling down onto her stomach.  
"Oh no you don't," Ranma said, his grip tight. He had no idea who this person was and didn't know if she was a threat to their well being. He had sensed no hostile intentions from her toward Rene, but he didn't want to take a chance.  
"Who are you?" he asked.  
As Ranma held onto her ankle, Emiko rolled onto her back and kicked toward Ranma's face with her free leg, the attack dodged easily when Ranma weaved slightly toward the right from where he was sitting.  
After trying two more times, both attacks missing, Emiko kicked at the forearms of the arm holding her. She almost yelped out in pain when she realized she had kicked as hard as she could at something that seemed as solid as steel.  
Ranma, a bit annoyed with the situation, stood to his full height, which would tower over Emiko since she was Rene's height. He held his arm extended from his body, the female ninja dangling upside down from her captured ankle as she proceeded to kick at Ranma's forearm.  
"It ain't hurtin' me, y'know," Ranma said after he received a dozen or so kicks to his forearm. He was a bit surprised at Emiko's persistence. In a situation like that, he probably would had done the same until his foot was numb from kicking.  
Emiko continued kicking at Ranma's forearm. The princess was so close yet so far away. If she could free herself, she would grab hold of the princess and make a run for it.  
"Who are you?" he asked again, a bit less patient.  
Emiko continued kicking.  
"Goddamnit!" Ranma muttered. He used his free hand to press one of Emiko's pressure points, to get her leg to spot functioning momentarily, only to have the hand intercepted at the wrist and then twisted very hard toward one direction.  
He released his grip on her ankle, Emiko suspended in mid-air as she held onto his extended hand. Because she had no footing, she had no leverage to twist his arm. After a moment, she realized this and leg to, landing skillfully on her feet.  
She looked up at Ranma, only to find him not there. She looked around and finally noticed that he was standing directly between her and Rene.  
Damn, Emiko thought, I'm gonna have to fight him again to get to the princess. She didn't really know if she was up to the task. Ranma was far and beyond more skilled than her. The only thing she could perhaps match with him was in speed, provided he wasn't holding back. For some reason, she had the funny feeling he held back quite a bit.  
"Who are you?" Ranma asked again, making eye contact. All he could see of Emiko were her brown eyes. He hadn't removed the mask, figuring she might prefer to remain mostly concealled.  
After surveying the situation a moment, Emiko decided it was best to talk instead of fight. She got out of her battle stance and said, "My name is Emiko. Emiko Kusanagi,"  
"Why are you attacking us?" "I'm only attacking you," Emiko replied, her eyes narrowing. Was this man stupid or something? Didn't he notice that she had been trying to kill or perhaps incapacitate him all this time?  
"Then why were you going straight after Rene?"  
"Bite your tongue! You will not address the princess in that manner!" Emiko sneered.  
Ranma's eyes lit up. When Emiko said that, he realized that she been trying to protect her.  
"Oh! Now I get it!" Ranma said, snapping his fingers, pointing toward her, "You're supposed to rescue the princess, huh?"  
"Yes," Emiko continued to glare.  
Ranma turned toward Rene, "Y'hear that? She's here to take ya back home. You can probably get back home much faster with her than walking on foot with me,"  
Rene, standing close to Ranma, regarded Emiko, "How do I know you're here to help me? I've never seen you before,"  
"That's because I've mostly kept to the shadows, your highness," Emiko replied, getting down on one knee, "Your father has me look out for you, but doesn't want you aware of my presence. That is why you've never seen me,"  
"I'm still not convinced," Rene said.  
"I've watched over you for the past two years," she replied, "If you don't believe me, I understand. But perhaps I can convince you,"  
"Go right ahead, but I don't think it'll work,"  
"Remember when your highness were leaning against one of the walls of the balconey and the rocks fell loose? You tumbled over and fell toward the ground below, yet you never hit the ground because someone caught you,"  
Rene nodded, "I remember that. But I never got the chance to see who caught me,"  
"That was because I quickly disappeared after placing your highness gently on the ground,"  
Rene said, "Well, I guess it could have been you...but I'm still not convinced,"  
"Remember when you were in the courtyard, and a fox managed to break from from its cage right before the annual fox hunt your father has? And no one was close enough to get to the fox before it reached you?"  
Rene nodded, "Yes. A dagger came out of nowhere and struck the fox. I remember that,"  
Emiko reached into one of the secret pockets of her outfit and pulled out a dagger. Rene's eyes widened, "That looks like the exact same dagger that killed the fox,"  
Emiko nodded, "That is because it is, your highness,"  
"Damn, you had a dagger in your pocket?" Ranma's eyes was a bit wide, "I didn't even notice it when I was patting ya down,"  
Seeing her chance, what with the dagger at the ready, Emiko stabbed at Ranma. Although it seemed like Ranma had been protecting her, no one would try to protect her more than Emiko or her parents. The stab had been so unexpected that Ranma barely had time to react. In a blink of an eye, Ranma had grabbed the attacking hand, took a step forward, turned a hundred and eighty degrees around so that his back was pressed against Emiko's front, and then shoulder threw her to the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her.  
It wasn't until after Ranam realized what he had done did he kneel down before her.  
"I'd apologize, but it seemed like you were obviously trying to stab me. I didn't have time to react, otherwise, I would have done it a lot gentle," he smirked.  
Emiko rubbed the small of her back. She was surprised she hadn't landed on her feet. However, she hadn't expected someone to actually reverse her incoming attack with such speed and accuracy.  
"I'd appreciate it if you quit tryin' to kill me," Ranma said, "I'm on yer side. I've been with Rene for the past several days since that ambush. I'm tryin' to get her home safe,"  
"Well, you're not longer needed. I can do that," Emiko said, getting to her feet.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Now that I think about it, that's true,"  
"Waitaminute, don't I have a say in this?" Rene said, stepping forward.  
"What is it, your highness?" Emiko asked.  
"I want Ranma to escort me home,"  
"What?" Ranma and Emiko said in unison.

"I don't understand," Ranma said, "Emiko's here. You don't need me here to protect you anymore,"  
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Rene glared at Ranma.  
Emiko also glared at Ranma. If he upset the princess, she would slit his throat.  
"Well, yeah," Ranma said. He wasn't necessarily trying to get rid of her, but it would probably make his journey a whole lot less stressful without her. Of course, it could get boring from time to time.  
Rene giggled, "I know you're only kidding,"  
"But I'm not," he replied.  
"You can be so silly at times,"  
Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose, "This can't be happening to me,"

It had been determined without a shadow of a doubt that Emiko was Rene's secret protector. Emiko had given dozens of scenerios where she had been mysteriously saved. As they and Ranma walked toward their destination, Emiko was confused at how Ranma was acting. He didn't seem to be all that bothered by the fact that she had tried to kill him on many occastions. Ranma had decided to tag along because they were deading in the same general direction anyway. Besides, it was better having company around for the journey than not.  
"Y'know what's weird?" Ranma said with a smirk, "Considerin' how many times Emiko saved ya, you must be really really clumsy,"  
Emiko pulled out her dagger and stabbed at Ranma, missing my by inches.  
Ranma sighed as he held the intercepted dagger, "This is gonna be a long journey,"  
"Hey, Rene, will you tell your lil ninja protector to stop trying to stab me?" Ranma asked, jerking a thumb toward Emiko, who continued to glare at him. Rene turned toward Emiko, "Emiko, I command you to stop trying to stab Ranma,"  
"Y-yes, your highness," Emiko gritted her teeth, bowing to acknowledge her. She resented Ranma for his hold on the princess. The princess isn't obligated to do anything for Ranma! How dare he ask her for favors! Emiko showed her contempt toward Ranma, continuing to glare at him as if trying to burn through a hole through his head.  
He looked at Emiko and grinned. They three of them continued on walking. They walked for about ten minutes in silence before it was broken.  
"Hey, how come you wear that mask over your mouth and nose?" Ranma bothered to ask.  
"First of all," she snapped, "You don't know me well enough to call my be my name so casually. The same thing goes for calling her highness by her name so casually, too,"  
"Whatever ya say," he shrugged his shoulders.  
"Hmph," she turned her head away in disgust. The man was a obnoxious jerk. She couldn't believe that Rene could put up with him since the day of the ambush. She felt sorry for the princess, having to deal with Ranma's obnoxious behavior for those past few days.  
"Fine, if you don't wanna chat," Ranma shrugged his shoulders again. He turned his attention toward Rene, "Yo, Rene, how much longer until we get back to your place?"  
"You will not address the princess so casually!" Emiko shouted, very upset. She was extremely annoyed that this man wasn't one bit intimidated by her. Men would cower if they knew even a fraction of what she was capable of doing.  
"Will you please be quiet?" Ranma said, "You sound like Asuka!"  
Rene's attention quickly turned toward Ranma, "Asuka? Who's Asuka?"  
"No one you know," Ranma replied, "Just a girl I know,"  
"Who is she? Is she pretty? What's she like?" Rene asked in quick succesion.  
Ranma looked at Rene oddly, "Huh? Asuka? I dunno. It doesn't really matter anyway,"  
"What makes you say that?"  
"She's someone I know," he replied, "Why're you getting upset? What the heck did I say?"  
"Forget it," she snapped, turning her attention away from Ranma and proceeding ahead down the dirt path.  
"Yo, Emi-chan, what the heck did I say that made her so angry at me?" Ranma turned toward Emiko before she had a chance to run ahead to catch up to Rene.  
"Quit calling me that!" Emiko pulled out her dagger, "You have no right calling me by my name so casually!"  
Ranma grinned, "Go right ahead and stab me," He kept his hands by his side, showing no intent of intercepting the dagger had she tried to stab him. "Oooh, you're so infuriating! If her highness haven't commanded me-"  
"Her highness? You mean Rene?" he continued to tease, knowing it annoyed Emiko just as much that he used Rene's name so casually as it did calling Emiko's name in the same manner.  
Fuming, Emiko stomped ahead to catch up to Rene.

Rene took a deep breath as she gazed out toward the ocean before her. It was around noontime. There was no one else nearby, the beach seperated from the nearest town by thick forests. In the horizon, the castle where Rene resided could be seen.  
"Well, here's the beach like I promised ya," Ranma said with a smile. He noticed Rene's eyes light up upon the sight of the tides coming in and then receeding. "It's beautiful, much more beautiful than I thought. I've never seen the beach this close before," she commented, feeling the moist breeze as it caused her clothes and hair to flutter.  
"So, whatcha wanna do?" he asked.  
"I want to make a sandcastle," she said.  
Emiko gazed at the princess. She had never seen Rene seem so alive before. She seemed thrilled to be at the beach, something Emiko couldn't quite understand. And above that, Rene seemed very intent on making a sandcastle, which seemed rather boring to do to the young ninja girl.  
Ranma walked closer the water, Rene following, and said, "All right, if ya wanna make a sandcastle, we'll hafta be close to the water because we can use it to keep the sand wet so it'll stay in place as we're making the sandcastle,"  
He proceeded to scoop the damp sand with his hands and make a pile of it next to him. After a moment or so, he realized that he was the only one doing it.  
"Hey, whatcha waitin' for?" he asked Rene.  
"What?" she asked.  
"Help out," he told her, "Just scoop some wet sand for a while so we can make a nice pile outta it. That'll be used as the sandcastle's foundation,"  
"Help out? You mean scoop up the sand myself?" Rene seemed almost shocked, "But it's going to dirty my hands,"  
"Yeah, so?" he said.  
"But I can't have that," she replied.  
Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose.

Ranma gazed down at the sandcastle.  
"Well, what do you think?" Rene asked, wiping the sand off her hands. It had taken quite a bit of goading on Ranma's part before she had finally taken the plunge and started using her hands to scoop the wet sand up. Afterwards, they hand proceeded to make a sandcastle. "It looks like crap," Ranma commented with a smirk. He wondered how on earth they could had made such an ugly sandcastle together, especially with him helping out.  
"What?" Rene's eyes widened, "It looks great,"  
"Obviously, you haven't seen a real sandcastle before," he smirked.  
"You dare challenge her majesty's opinion?" Emiko snapped, glaring at Ranma. She had stood there the whole time, watching as Rene and Ranma made that sandcastle.  
Ranma nodded, "Well, yeah. She thinks it looks good when it obviously doesn't,"  
"But this sandcastle is supposed to look exactly like my castle," Rene commented.  
Ranma looked back around his shoulder toward the castle in the horizon, then back at the sandcastle. After gazing back and forth for a few times, Ranma chuckled, "This looks nothing like that castle,"  
"It does too," Rene retorted.  
"No, it doesn't," Ranma seemed steadfast.  
"It does too," Emiko jumped in, defending her majesty.  
"Go away, lil ninja girl," Ranma shooed her away, "You were no help. Go take a dip in the ocean or something,"  
"Lil ninja girl?" Emiko's eyes widened. If it weren't for the mask, he would had been able to see her gritting her teeth, "How dare you!"  
"Hold up," Rene jumped in, "There's no need to fight,"  
Ranma continued on with his teasing as he said, "You heard her. There's no need to fight so why dontcha go take a dip in the ocean. It'll help cool that hot-headedness of yours,"  
"Why you!"  
"Will you quit teasing her?" Rene showed signs of annoyance.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Fine,"  
Emiko continued to grit his teeth. She could envision that dagger slitting Ranma's throat as she gripped the handle within her outfit. She would love to see Ranma breathing through a hole in his neck.  
"If you think this sandcastle's so ugly, then let's see you make one," Rene said, reverting back to their usual conversation.  
He shook his head, "Nah, perhaps another day. I'm in the mood for a swim right now,"  
"You're going swimming?" she asked.  
Ranma nodded, "Sure, why not? It's a nice day out and it's only around two in the afternoon,"  
Without waiting for a reply, Ranma headed toward the water, taking off his shirt, his muscular back exposed for Rene and Emiko to see. From where they stood, the two girls could easily see the striations and definition of his back. It clearly showed that it hid extreme power beneath those relaxed muscles of his.  
They both watched as he continued walking forward until the water was up to his waist. When it did, he dove forward, submerging himself, resurfacing a moment later.  
"Damn, that feels good," he commented, slicking the loose bangs back with his two hands, the muscles of his back coming alive as he did so. He turned to face the two girls on the beach, them getting a good look of his defined abdomen and chiselled chest, "You should come in. The water's a bit cold, but it feels invogorating," Emiko looked toward Rene, wondering what to do.  
"Um, no thank you," Rene said, blushing slightly, "I'll just stay here and, um, make another sandcastle,"  
"How about you, Emi-chan? Ya comin' in?" he asked, swimming backwards and now farther out from the beach.  
"Don't call me by my name so casually!" Emiko shouted back, "And no, I'm not coming in. I find it revolting to be in the same ocean that you're in,"  
Ranma laughed heartily, "Good one, Emi-chan. I can't think of a come back to that so you win that one. Well, I'm going to swim for a short while,"  
He turned around and began swimming farther and farther away from land.

"Where's Emiko?" Ranma asked as he got out of the water. He had been swimming for around fifteen minutes before calling it quits. He picked up and put on his shirt, not at all bothered that he was soaking wet. He would be dry in minutes.  
"I told her to go take a dip in the river," Rene replied, continuing to build the sandcastle.  
"What?"  
"She seemed very ticked off at you so I told her to go take a dip in the river we passed a short while ago," she replied, "I figured it would help cool her off,"  
"Oh,"  
"Um, is there a reason why you always pick on her?" Rene asked from out of the blue, keeping her gaze away.  
"I dunno," he replied, smirking "I guess it's because it annoys her so much," Looking at the sandcastle, he was surprised at the progress Rene had made, "Wow, this sandcastle looks much better than that last one,"  
"Thank you," Rene said, surprising herself. She was not only surprised that she had actully allowed herself to become dirty to make a sandcastle.  
"It's around three or so," Ranma started off, "We should move on. That way, we'll get you back home shortly after nightfall,"  
Rene's visage became somewhat sullen, "Um, yeah, I guess you're right,"  
"Just wait here for a moment, I'll go get Emiko," he said before turning around and leaving.  
Rene looked down at the sandcastle, saddened. Making a sandcastle didn't seem all that worthwhile anymore.  
Emiko produced her dagger when she caught sight of Ranma peeping on her as she bathed in the river. She had been completely naked, save for the mask covering her nose and mouth, and had been on her way out the river when she caught sight of Ranma emerging from the bushes lining the riverbanks.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were naked," Ranma quickly apologized, holding his hands up and taking a step back. He had just caught sight of Emiko totally naked, in all her obviously feminine glory. "How dare you! You pervert!" she sneered. She didn't care that Rene had told her not to attack Ranma. If Rene had known that he would do something like this, she would had kindly reconsidered.  
"Wow," he commented to himself, admiring her body for a brief moment. However, he hadn't been aware Emiko had heard.  
Ranma regarded Emiko intently, making her very aware of his eyes linger over her naked body. She couldn't help be feel this heat rushing toward her cheeks. "Hey, why do you wear that mask, even though you're completely naked?" he bothered to ask. He had been totally unaware of how uncomfortable he was making Emiko because of his presence.  
"Quit staring at me!" she shouted, ducking back down into the river, the water level up to her neck.  
Ranma scratched his chin as in deep in thought, "I'm just curious, where the heck did that dagger come from?" A second after he asked himself that question, he seemed to have come to a conclusion and said to himself, "Whoa, that's kinda kinky,"  
"I do not keep it _there_!" Emiko shouted, throwing her dagger at him. The dagger stuck into tree trunk right next to him.  
"Emiko seems even more angry at you than usual," Rene commented. She and Ranma and Emiko had been walking down the dirt path. They were probably about five hours away from their destination, Rene's home. Ranma and Rene were walking side by side while Emiko walked about five meters ahead of them.  
"You mean the kinky ninja?" Ranma said, "She always seem to be angry at me,"  
Emiko hadn't said a word to Ranma all day since that incident this morning, but she couldn't keep silent anymore, especially after hearing what he had considered her.  
"I don't keep it _there_!" she said, turning to face him.  
"Where else? I remember patting you down once for weapons and found nothing, but you still had a dagger on you," he answered, "And the one place I didn't bother to check was...well..."  
"I'll kill you!" Emiko sneered. She then noticed Rene regarding her and quickly knelt down on one knee, "Your highness, may I please as a favor of you?"  
"What is it?"  
"Can you please allow me to kill Ranma?" she asked in a calm voice. "Whatever for? What did he do?" Rene asked.  
"Hold up," Ranma held his hands up, "T-there's no need to tell her. What she doesn't know w-won't kill her," He didn't really mind having Emiko angry at her. It was having bother Emiko and Rene angry at him that didn't sit well with him. When two or more female were angry at him, they would team up and make his day, or even his life, a living hell. And frankly, he wasn't in the mood of going through a living hell for the next five or so hours.  
Emiko continued to glare at Ranma, "How dare you to have such thoughts that I..." She left the sentence unfinished. She felt totally embarrassed that Ranma thought this about her.  
"What are you talking about?" Rene asked, fully aware that Emiko and Ranma were hiding something from her. What had happen this morning? Could something had happen between them this morning? Is that why Emiko's angry at Ranma?  
"Don't worry yer pretty lil head over it," Ranma said.  
Rene looked at Ranma, this shocked look at her eyes, "Y-you think I'm pretty?" There was a blush forming around her cheeks. When Ranma noticed this, his visage became a bit pale, "Um, er, it's just an expression," He had recognized that look everywhere. Rene seemed to have some kind of feelings for him.  
"So you think I'm not pretty?" Rene asked, her eyes narrowing.  
"T-that wasn't what I was tryin' to say," Ranma quickly said. What the hell does this always happen to me, he though sullenly. Why was he always put in situations that had no solution? Why?  
"Then what were you trying to say?" Rene continued to watch Ranma carefully.  
"This can't be happening,"

"Looks like it's going to rain," Ranma commented, holding his hand out, his palm upward, "I can feel the rain drops," It was nearing late afternoon. They were just two or so hours away from their destination. They could see Rene's castle in the distant horizon, the town houses and businesses surrounding it.  
"We should find some selter," Rene commented.  
"Wow, thanks for stating the obvious," Ranma said sarcastically, "I would have never thought of that without your help,"  
Emiko's eyes narrowed toward Ranma as Ranma shrugged it off. Rene seemed less annoyed with Ranma and Emiko. She had gotten used to him over the past few days. She was sure Emiko would grow accustom to him also.  
"What do you think? Should we continue on or find some kinda cave or so?" Ranma asked.  
"Let's find a cave," Rene replied.  
They walked about five minutes before they came upon a cave.  
"Wow, talk about good luck, ne?" Ranma smiled, heading straight toward the cave entrance. He peered into it and noticed that it didn't go all that far in, only about twenty meters.  
Shrugging his shoulders, he went into the cave and sat down on the ground, leaning his back against one of the walls. Rene and Emiko reluctantly followed suit, sitting down against the wall adjacent to Ranma.  
The moment they sat down, the drizzle started to turn into a downpour, making the cave entrance look like a wall of water. "Well, the only thing we can do now is wait it out," Ranma said. He was about to close his eyes to catch up on some sleep when he heard Emiko and Rene gasp. When he looked at them, he noticed Rene had a terrified look on her faces, like she was seeing something that scared her to her very core. With only her eyes visible for Ranma to see, Ranma noticed that they had a terrified look to them also.  
"S-s-snake," Rene managed to say through gasps. She pointed toward Ranma's right shoulders.  
Ranma looked toward where Rene pointed and noticed that there was indeed a snake there. It seemed to have slithered out of the wall and was slowly making it way down his front by his shoulder.  
Without thinking twice, Ranma used his left hand to grab the snake. He then pulled it out from the wall and casually threw out of the cave and into the rain. The snake slithered away, disappearing into one of the bushes lining the front of the cave.  
Ranma yawned, "I'm tired. I'm gonna go get some sleep,"  
"H-how can you sleep after coming so close to a snake?" Rene asked, still scared, "I think that was an Abraxis, one of the most deadliest and most poisoness snakes in the world,"  
He shrugged his shoulders and said, "So what if it's deadly. It's just a snake. It had no reason to bite me,"  
"But those snakes are naturally aggressive," Rene said. She had remember reading about it.  
"So? It's just a snake. There's nothing to worry about," he replied, his eyes closed, "You should get some rest. The rain's probably not gonna stop for a few hours,"  
"And how do you expect me to sleep," Rene asked, "when I'm aware of there possibly being snakes around. How do you know that snake won't come back?"  
"Emiko can protect ya," Ranma smiled.  
"Um," Emiko said.  
"What is it?" Ranma asked, his eyes still closed.  
"N-nothing," she finally said after a minute. She was also terrified of snakes. She was tired from walking for so long but was sure she wasn't going to fall asleep.

It was around midnight when Emiko and Rene awoke. They had slept for a while, close to five more hours than they had originally expected. Emiko had only been asleep for two or so hours, fatigue finally getting the best of her.  
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Rene stretched her arms out, accidentally hitting Emiko in the side of her head.  
"Sorry," Rene couldn't help but giggle. Emiko had immediately became alert, figuring something snake had just brushed past her face.  
"We've seem to have overslept, your highness," Emiko said.  
"Can you do me a favor?" Rene asked.  
"Of course, your highness, what is it?"  
"Can you not call me your highness," Rene said.  
Emiko's eyes widened, "B-but...why? I don't understand,"  
Rene shrugged her shoulders, something she picked up from Ranma and said, "Well, I got used to being call by my name. It sounds better than 'your highness' anyway,"  
"I-if you wish," Emiko said, nodding in acknowledgement.  
Looking around, Rene said, "Where's Ranma?"  
"He must have gone out, your highness,"  
Rene looked at Emiko.  
"I'm sorry. I meant...Anlinson-sama,"  
"Rene's fine," Rene said.  
"Okay...Rene," Emiko said a bit nervously. It sounded weird calling Rene by her first name. It sounded almost disrespectful but Rene didn't seem to be at all bothered by it.  
Rene got up to her feet and walked toward the cave entrance. She was glad that it was no longer raining. Stepping out of the cave, Rene looked around and noticed that Ranma was nowhere to be seen.  
"Ranma? Where are you?" Rene called out, "Are you out there?"  
She called out for him for several minutes.  
"I think I know what happened to him," Emiko said, her voice soft and almost soothing. Rene's heart seemed to be beating quite rapidly from not knowing where Ranma could have gone.  
"Where? Where's Ranma? Where'd he go?" she asked in quick succession, turning to face Emiko.  
Emiko pointed down toward Rene's feet.  
Rene looked down and noticed something written on the ground, as if someone had just a twig to write something in the dirt. She read it aloud.  
'It was nice knowing you two. Goodbye. Ranma Saotome.' Ranma was walking down the street of Anlinson City. He had no intention of staying there for long. Considering it was midnight, he was quite surprised that it was pretty busy. There were people go about as if it were the middle of the day.  
Perhaps there was some kind of festival going on, Ranma thought to himself.  
Figuring that it was probably around the time Rene and Emiko awoke, he decided that he had toured the city for long enough and it was about time to get going, to get on with his journet.  
He had left the cave at around seven, shortly after the rain had stopped. He had spent his precious time around town talking to people, asking around if they knew of a Luna Inverse. It had taken over two hours of asking around before someone had replied that they had heard of her. When he had asked where she could perhaps be found, they didn't know. It was back to square one.  
At around eleven, and talking to people that had heard of Luna Inverse but not knowing of her whereabouts, Ranma had decided it was perhaps easier to find Lina. She travelled around a lot and would probably be easier to find since she was so well-known. However, his search came out futile. No one could tell him of Luna or Lina's whereabouts.  
"I better get going," Ranma said to himself, "Rene and Emiko's probably awake now and should be on their way to home. Don't wanna accidently bump into 'em,"  
Before finally leaving through one of the main gates on the exact opposite side of the city where Rene and Emiko would enter, Ranma stopped for a moment to gaze up at the towering castle that was Rene's home. He knew she would live a comfortable life there, that her parents would be estactic to see her alive and well.  
He smiled, more to himself than anything else.  
"Take care Rene. Take care Emiko,"  
He turned around and left the city, never looking back.

Ranma walked down the dirt path, drinking in the beautiful scenery. It was a beautiful morning. The sun shone brightly high above, its rays casting warmth on the world. Standing on a clifftop, Ranma gazed down at Anlinson City in the far off distance. The castle located in the middle of the city looked no larger than a speck of dirt from that vantage point.  
Two days had passed since Ranma had parted ways with Rene and Emiko. He had bothered to look back on last time, before the beautiful and bustling city of Anlinson disappeared beyond the horizon.  
Ranma continued to gaze at the horizon. Over the past few days, he had had a lot of time to think, to think about how he was going to get home, about how far fetched his plan of getting back could be.  
He picked up a rock and threw it over the cliff at nothing in particular, the rock travelling at supersonic speeds in a virtually straight path parallel to the ground far below him. If he had aimed, it wouldn't be surprising if Ranma could actually hit the castle from that distance. The castle was a big target, afterall.  
Sighing, knowing that he was going to miss Rene and Emiko's company, Ranma turned around and continued heading westward.

"Emiko, I command you to go find Ranma," Rene told her ninja protector. They were both in Rene's well-furnished bedroom. Rene was sitting on the bed, Emiko knelt down before her, awaiting orders after having been summoned into the room.  
Emiko's eyes widened, "D-did I hear you right, you majesty? Y-you want me to go find R-Ranma?"  
"Yes, I want you to go find him,"  
"May I inquire as to why?" Emiko asked.  
"Because..."  
Emiko continued to wait patiently for her majesty to answer. It took several long minutes before Rene had managed to say the words.  
"Because I love him," Rene said, blushing slightly.  
"W-what?"

Ranma had been walking down a dirt trail at around two in the afternoon when something unexpected happen.  
"Well well well, look who we have here?" the big burly bandit said, twiddling a dagger in his hands as he emerged from behind a tree. He and three of his fellow comrades had been hiding near a frequently travelled dirt trail when they caught sight of Ranma walking by. They had quickly surrounded him.  
Ranma continued to walk forward, right past the burly man that had been in front of him.  
"Hey!" the man said, "Get back here! You ain't getting away from us that easily!"  
The man reached a hand out and placed it on Ranma's shoulder, shocked that he couldn't hold him back. Ranma continued to walk on ahead. The man quickly ran forward and in front of Ranma, blocking his path.  
"Hey, are you listening to me?" the man sneered.  
Ranma said, "I'm trying not to, but you just keep on talking so it's hard to ignore ya,"  
"You're gonna pay for that!" the man said, Annoyed, Ranma grabbed the hand resting on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. The man yelped out in pain as he felt his hand slowly becoming crushed under Ranma's grip.  
"Go away if you know what's good for ya," Ranma said.  
When Ranma released his grip, the man staggered away, gripping his hand. When he was next to his comrades, he commanded them to kill him.  
"Why am I not surprised?" Ranma muttered.  
As all three attacked, Ranma easily incapciated all of them, throwing one of them into the other two, all of them getting knocked out. All that remained was the bandit with the hurt hand.  
"You damn bandits," Ranma muttered, "Go get a job,"  
"Yeah, go get a job," came a familiar female voice.  
Ranma turned his attention toward where the voice had originated. Ranma already knew who it was without having to look. He would never forget that voice.  
It was Lina Inverse.

"You're just as bad as those bandits," Ranma commented.  
"Is it so wrong to steal from someone after they stole from someone else?" Lina asked innocently.  
"Whatever," Ranma said.  
"I've heard you've been looking around for me," Lina said. "Yeah, ever since I met you, I couldn't stop thinking about you," Ranma said, "I think I'm in love with you,"  
"Ha ha, real funny," Lina muttered, "Now what's the real reason you've been looking around for me?"  
"Okay, you've got me," he said, "I've been been hoping you'll know of a way of getting me back home,"  
Lina gave Ranma and odd look, "What do you mean?"  
"Well, at the moment, I have no means of getting home, so I figured perhaps I can find this worlds greatest magic-user, and perhaps she'll be able to send me back to my own world," he said in one breath, "That's why I've been looking around for you,"  
Lina was taken aback at the comment. She never knew that Ranma had viewed her as the world's greatest magic-user, that he had been looking for her all this time. Had she known, she would had tried her hardest to finding him earlier.  
Blushing slightly, Lina asked, "Well, what would you like me to do for you?" She felt she would do whatever she could to help Ranma out. She had been wrong about Ranma. All this time he had believed her the greatest magic-user when she thought he viewed her as some bratty girl that pulled rabbits out of hats.  
Ranma smiled, "Really? You mean it? You'll help me out?"  
"Sure. What would you like me to do?"  
"Well, like I said before, I'm looking for this world's greatest magic-user. That's why I came to you,"  
"Of course,"  
"So where can I find your sister?"

Ranma walked down the dirt trail alone. It was getting pretty chilly out at night and the moonlight caused the trees to cast eerie shadows throughout the trail in front of him.  
"Hmph," he muttered to himself, rubbing his shoulder, "She didn't hafta hit me with fifteen fireballs in a row," He felt sore, his muscles ached, and he was tired. He still couldn't understand what he had said that made her so angry. One minute, she seemed intent on helping him out, and the very next, she was trying to kill him. The women on this world were even more beyond Ranma's understanding that his own world. Perhaps it was a universal thing, that women were hard to understand for him, a man.  
As Ranma continued to walk, he came upon a clearing. It didn't cross his mind one bit to continue on. He spent the next fifteen minutes collecting some sticks and stone to build a campfire. After he neatly placed stones into a circle, he then placed the sticks within the circle. Afterwards, he extended his hand toward the pile of sticks. A split second later, the sticks bursted into flames.  
Ranma smiled. Using ki to start a fire was far easier than rubbing sticks together. He would had dones so when he had been escorting both Rene and Emiko, but he didn't want them getting curious and then having to explain things.  
With the fire started, Ranma sat down, gazing down at it.  
After a short while, he lied down and went to sleep.  
Emiko waited for a good half an hour before she emerged from the shadows. By then, the campfire had nearly died down.  
She silently walked to where Ranma lay sleeping. For a brief moment, she contemplated killing Ranma in his sleep. Of course, she would have to come up with an excuse when she went back to Rene empty handed. However, the thought only lasted for a moment. Over the course of the day as she stealthily followed Ranma, she had given it a lot of thought about Rene's feelings toward Ranma. She couldn't understand how the princess could had possibly fallen in love with him. Ranma was an obnoxious, arrogant, and insensitive jerk. What could she see in him? Emiko yelped as she she felt a hand grab onto her ankle. In that moment of panic, an experience a ninja like her should never have, Emiko tried to run away only to find the grip held fast onto her, causing her to fall forward and on top of Ranma.  
"Ya mind getting off me?" he asked, his face just inches from her.  
Emiko quickly got to her feet. It took her a few moments before she realized that Ranma had been the one to grab her. She waited for a moment for her heart to slow down. "Sorry about that," she said.  
Ranma gazed at Emiko for several moments.  
"What?" she asked.  
He smirked, "So that's what you look like,"  
"What? What are you talking about?"  
"Your mask," he said, pointing, "It's no longer covering your nose and mouth like it always did,"  
Emiko's eyes widened, "What?" She brought her hands up to her cheek and was shocked when she felt her fingertips brush against skin. She looked down by her feet when she saw the cloth that had once covered the lower half of her face. It seems it had fallen off when she had fallen on top of Ranma.  
Ranma couldn't help but notice that Emiko was perhaps one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. "Y'know what's weird? It's odd that someone as pretty as you would keep it concealled behind that mask," Ranma commented.  
Emiko seemed to be in shock. She didn't hear what Ranma had said. She just stood perfectly still, unblinking, her hand pressed against her cheek. She seemed like some kind of statue just standing there.  
A bit concerned, Ranma got up to his feet, and looked into her eyes.  
"Yo, Emi-chan, you okay?" he asked, waving a hand in front of her.  
He did it for several moments, beginning to get more and more worried with every passing second.  
"Um, Emi-chan, are you okay?" he continued to ask.  
After about five minutes, which felt like forever to Ranma, Emiko blinked and turned her gaze up to meet Ranma's.  
"Are you okay? You had me worried there for a moment," he said, smiling slightly.  
Without saying a word, Emiko took a step forward and kissed Ranma passionately.  
Ranma, absolutely shocked, tried to take a step back, tripping on his own two feet, and fell backwards, arms flailing, Emiko falling on top of him. As he lay on his back, wrapped her two arms around the back of Ranma's neck and continued to kiss him.  
A good minute passed before Ranma had managed to free himself and crawl backwards several feet and gather himself.  
"W-w-what the hell are y-you doing?" he stammered, eyes wide.  
"You pulled off my mask," she replied.  
"What does that hafta do with it?" he continued to stammer.  
"You are the first my to see my face. As a female ninja, it is the ways of my ninja clan to marry the first man to ever unmask me,"  
"What?"  
"I can't marry you! This ain't right," Ranma said. A few long minutes had passed since Emiko had told Ranma that they are to wed.  
"You have to," Emiko said.  
"No I don't!" he replied. He couldn't believe the predicament he was in. Something similar to this had happened to him several decades ago with a girl named Shampoo. Once again, this was accidental.  
"You must," she said emphatically.  
"No, I don't hafta do anything," he replied. It was something he wished he had said to Shampoo when he was young. It would had saved him a lot of stress and grief.  
"Very well," Emiko said.  
Ranma watched as Emiko reached into the folds of her outfit and pulled out a dagger. She said something that sounded like she had failed as a ninja, and extended the dagger away from her at arm's length, the blade pointing toward her throat.  
"What are you doing?" Ranma asked.  
"Goodbye," she said before pluging the dagger right toward her throat.  
Ranma's hand shot out with lightning speed, his hand gripping over the blade. A small trickle of blood seeped down his hand as he gripped the blade. Ranma didn't feel the pain from the gash in his hand. The adrenaline coursing through his body easily made the pain unnoticeable. Emiko looked up at Ranma, shocked to see him gripping the blade.  
"What are you doing?" Ranma nearly shouted.  
"I was going to kill myself," she replied softly, sadly, "I have failed as a ninja and was going to take my own life,"  
"Give me the dagger," he commanded her, fearing that if he realized his grip on the blade, she would follow through on what she had been intent to do.  
Emiko obeyed and released her hold on the dagger, allowing Ranma to take it from her. She glanced down at the ground, tears starting to form, her failure as a ninja finally beginning to settle in.  
"Why on earth were you going to kill yourself?" he asked, throw the dagger away. He watched Emiko intently, ready to grab any weapon she might produce to kill herself with.  
"If you do not marry me, then I have failed as a ninja," she said, "I am to take my own life if I were to ever fail as a ninja. It is the law of my clan,"  
"W-w-what?" he gasp, "Are you telling me that if I don't marry you, you're gonna kill yourself?"  
Emiko nodded.  
"You've gotta be kidding me!"

Emiko followed behind Ranma dejectedly, her gaze still on the ground. It was amazing to Ranma that this was the same girl that had been so intent on trying to kill him before. The girl following him seemed like only a shell of her former self. They were headed east, back toward Rene's castle. Emiko had mentioned something about Rene really wanting to see Ranma but never told why. Although in any other situation, Ranma wouldn't had headed back, but he figured he might be able to get Rene to command Emiko to not kill herself since the young ninja seemed to obey Rene's every order. It was now morning. It was very warm out and cool breezes blew throughout the forest as they walked down the dirt trail. Ranma had managed to get through the night without Emiko killing herself.  
Ranma couldn't believe what predicament he was in. He was to marry Emiko or she would kill herself. It was obvious that she wasn't going to hesitate taking her life. She hadn't killed herself just yet though because Ranma had said that he would marry her. He hadn't known what he had been saying at the time but knew that it was the only thing to say in that kind of situation if he wanted prevent Emiko from killing herself last night.  
"There's absolutely, positively, one hundred percent no way to get you to change your mind?" he asked again for the tenth time.  
"No," she replied without hesitation, "My honor as a ninja depends on it. If I go against it, I will be shaming not only myself, but an entire family of over twenty generations,"  
"Damn," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose, something he had been doing quite a bit of times since he had arrived on this world, "This can't be happening,"

Ranma wandered through the busy town located just outside Rene's castle. He had contemplated making a run for it but didn't for fear that Emiko would go through with her plan of killing herself if she found out. As he walked through the town, Emiko following right next to him, Ranma telling her that he'd rather her next to him than behind.  
"Are you sure there's no way of changing your mind?" he asked again for the twenty third time.  
Well beyond the brink of annoyance, she replied back with an acid tone, "I'm sure. Will you please stop asking me that?"  
"I was asking," he said.  
"Yeah, twenty three times," she replied.  
"Fine, I'll stop," he replied, "I still think it stinks that I hafta marry ya or you're gonna kill yourself. I mean, we don't even like each other,"  
"It doesn't matter," she said, "It's the law of my clan,"  
"I still think it stinks," he muttered. "Can I ask you a question?" Emiko asked out of the blue. Since she was going to be his wife, she might as well get to know her husband. Although she hated him, she felt that she could grow to like him, or at least tolerate him. Afterall, Rene seemed to have seen something in Ranma that Emiko hadn't. Maybe she and Ranma needed to spend more time together like Rene had.  
"Sure," he smirked before continuing on.  
It took a moment bofore Emiko rushed after him and said, "That wasn't the question,"  
"All right, what is it?" he asked, turning his full attention toward her.  
"Um, last night, I saw you create a campfire..."  
"Oh, that," he said sullenly. He had been hoping she hadn't seen that.  
"Are you a magic-user?" she asked. She felt it a bit odd that if he were, then why didn't he bother to use it and stick to hand-to-hand combat, something unprecedented by both magic-users and any fighter for that matter.  
Ranma shook his head, "No. I'm a martial artist,"  
"Martial artist? What's that?"  
"I specialize in unarmed combat," he said, "Of course, what you saw is also one of the things you learn as a martial artist,"  
"Unarmed combat? But that's unheard of," Emiko was shocked, "It's got to be suicidal to fight unarmed against a swordsman let alone a magic-user. And you do this on purpose?"  
He nodded.  
"You're either very brave or very stupid. I think it's the latter,"  
Ranma smirked, "Now that's the Emiko I know. Anyway, it's just a way of fighting that I'm comfortable with,"  
"Are you any good at it?"  
"I beat you, didn't I?" he grinned.  
Emiko said nothing for a short moment, "I guess so,"  
He turned around and headed down the street, "Besides, I had been going easy on you because you were a girl,"  
"W-what?" Emiko's voice grew a bit louder. She quickly ran forward to catch up to him.  
"You're a girl, so I went easy on ya," he said.  
"I'll have you know that I'm one of the greatest ninja ever," she said confidently, "If we were to fight again, you'll be in for a surprise. You only beat me because I had underestimated you initially,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe you're right, but we'll never know cause I have no intention of fighting a girl. I don't fight girls. It'd be a no contest,"  
"Hmph, you're such a jerk," she muttered, "I can't believe Rene is in love with you,"  
"What didja say?"  
Emiko's eyes widened as she realized she had said something that wasn't supposed to be heard, "Um, n-nothing,"  
He walked up to her, "Did I hear you correctly? Didja just say that Rene's in love with me?"  
"Um, n-no, I did not,"  
"As your future husband, I command you to tell me whatcha just said a second," he said, figuring that it was best to take advantage of the awkward predicament he had put himself in not too long ago with Emiko.  
Emiko crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly, "Perhaps from whatever place you're from, the women do as they're told by their husbands, but over here, we are not obligated to obey our husbands commands whatsoever,"  
"Hmph, not only do I get myself screwed with getting stuck having to marry you of all people, but I get stuck having to marry a feminist," Ranma let out an exaspperated breath.  
"Hey!"

Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose.  
Man, I wish I hadn't heard Emiko back there correctly, he thought. He took a deep breath and replied to Rene. He and Rene were in the courtyard. Since Ranma had come back, he were to be officially thanks by the king and queen for his escorting their daught back to safety. However, before that were to happen, Rene had asked to talk to Ranma alone for a short while.  
"Rene, I'm flattered that you have feelings for me and all," he said, "But can't you see that this will never work out," Oddly enough, Rene was the first girl since the Nerima Massacre to have ever said aloud that she was in love with him.  
"Why not?" she asked.  
"I jus' can't," he said, "First off, I'm not from this world, I'm probably four times older than you even though I look just ten years your elder, you're supposed to live the life of royalty like supposed to, a kind of life refuse to live, and when I do go back to my own world, I'm not coming back,"  
Tears started to welt up in Rene's eyes, "I-if you didn't love me, y-you could have just said so instead of coming up with all those lies,"  
She quickly turned around and ran from the courtyard and into the main entrance to the castle.  
"Goddamnit!" he muttered, "Why and how the hell does this crap happen to me? I purposely act like a jerk toward her the whole time so she wouldn't fall for me and she still falls for me! I purposely do that same to Emiko and I end up in a situation even worse than with Rene! What's going on here?"  
Ranma sighed. He wished there was some way of getting girls to hate him. Asuka hated him. At least that what he believed. So where did he go wrong with Rene? Why didn't she hate him like Asuka did?  
"So that's what I am to you?" Emiko's voice could be heard from behind him, "I'm a situation that's worse than Rene?"  
Ranma turned to face her, "Now hold up, Emi-chan, dontcha go jumpin' to conclusions here,"  
Emiko pulled out the dagger to kill herself. Luckily, Ranma managed to grab it out of her hands before she could plunge it into her throat like her previous failed attempt. However, just like her previous attempt, it failed for Ranma grabbed it out of her hands before it cut into her jugular.  
"Will you quit tryin' to kill yourself?" Ranma snapped, "You're putting me in a really really awkward situation here!"  
"If you wish for me not to kill myself," she replied serious, "Then we are to marry before the end of the day,"  
Ranma's face twitched slightly as the stress of the situations started to seep in, as he said sarcastiacally.  
"Gee, I must be the luckiest man in the world to be in these kind of situations,"  
"Um, your majesty," Emiko began nervously.  
"What is it?" Rene asked as she sat on the bed, her back resting against the bedrest. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, chin resting on her knees. Emiko was by her bedside, kneeling obediently as if waiting further orders.  
"I've come to resign," the young ninja said. Although she would officially resign when she told the king and queen, she felt it polite to tell Rene first because she had known Rene the most.  
"R-resign? You mean someone's actually managed to get your mask off?" Rene asked, surprise in her voice. She had known about the odd law of the ninja clan Emiko belong to. She didn't know the exact circumstances behind that law, but she took it as a given. All she knew was that at some point in time, Emiko would had been unmasked and would thus marry the man whom unmasked her, prompting her to resign and leave the castle and her obligations.  
Emiko nodded, "Yes, I was unmasked last night,"  
"Who's the guy? He must be really good to defeat you and actually unmask you," Rene comment.  
A short moment passed before Emiko said, "Yes, he's indeed a great fighter and he did defeat me,"  
"Who is he?"  
"Um, er..."  
"Well?" Rene persisted. She found this amusing. She had never really talked to another girl about a guy before. It made her feel like a carefree girl instead of an obligated princess.  
"Um, h-his name's Ranma,"  
"What?"

Ranma looked down at the medallion wrapped around his neck. He was standing in front of the king and the queen. Rene was nowhere to be seen and neither was Emiko.  
"Um, sure, no problem," he told the king, Rene's father, "I'm glad I could help,"  
"I must say, you are a very striking young man," the queen said.  
Ranma was about to comment about he was probably as older or older than both the woman and man standing before him combined. He decided it was best to say nothing.  
"Um, thank you," he took the compliment.  
"Don't you think so, dear?" she asked her husband.  
The man nodded in accordance, "Yes, I do,"  
"I think you would make a perfect husband for our daughter," the queen said to Ranma, "Very well, it's decided. You shall marry our daughter,"  
"W-w-w-what?"

Ranma fast as he could from the castle as his legs could carry him. Following closely behind was Emiko. Since Ranma had no idea how he was going to get rid of her, he felt it necessary to have her go with him on his journey. He would have to deal with getting her to change her mind during the trip somehow. As to how he would have to worry about it later. It was the dead of night. He knew that Rene was going to take it pretty badly on Ranma running out on her, but it had to be done. He had no intentions of settling down. All he wanted to do was get home. Besides, he only liked Rene, not loved. He didn't have time to fall in love anyway.  
"This sucks! This sucks!" he continuously shouted to himself, "Why does this always happen to me?"  
"What's wrong?" she asked, following closely in step. She had been worried that Ranma was going to run off shortly after they had arrived at the castle and had been pleasantly surprised when Ranma stormed into Rene's room.  
"Rene, I'm sorry, but I must be going," Ranma had said as he ran through the room in a sprint, "I'm sure you'll find a great man to fall in love with,"  
"W-where are you going?" Rene had asked, her gaze moving from Emiko to Ranma.  
"I'm going home," he quickly said. He looked toward Emiko. He didn't even need to ask for he knew exactly why Emiko had been in the room in the first place. She had gone there to tell Rene that she was going to move on with her life.  
"Well, whatcha waitin' for? Let's get the hell outta here!" he told Emiko.  
He quickly ran up to Rene and gave her a warm embrace, "Rene, I'm sorry for the quick goodbye, but it can't be helped. It was nice knowing you. You take care. Farwell,"  
With that said, Ranma lept out the window, not one bit bothered that it was located well over a hundred feet above the ground. Emiko, seeing Ranma leap out of the window, turned her gaze toward Rene and said in a very gentle voice, "Well, your majesty, I guess this is where we part. It had been a pleasure serving you, but this is where I move on. Farewell,"  
Somehow, she would find a way to get the message to the king and queen of her resignation. With that said, she ran up to the window and proceed to climb out. Right before jumping out, she glanced back at Rene, whom seemed to still be in shock over what had just traspired a minute ago.  
"Um, t-take care, the both you you," Rene said as the tears started to flow, "I-it was n-nice knowing the two of you, even though it h-had been for a short while,"  
Emiko smiled one last time before she turned around and lept out the window and after Ranma.

"Um, I'm just curious, but exactly why did it seem like you were obligated to Rene's family?" Ranma asked out of the blue, figuring it was best to make conversation.  
As she and Ranma continued down the trail, she said, "A long long time ago, my clan would had been wiped out had it not been for Rene-sama's ancestors. Her ancestor from many generations ago had found my ancestor wounded from an ambush and took him in and nursed him back to health. From then on, he promised that his clan would gladly serve their family until it was time that we move on,"  
"Damn, that's kinda messed up," Ranma commented.  
Ignoring the interruption, she said, "We are forever in their debt because if it weren't for their ancestors, my ancestors would never had survived. That is why we are obligated to serve them. If I were to refuse, it would be akin to going against my ancestors, which I would never do,"  
"And lettme guess, your obligations become void when you become unmasked and the obligations are moved on to you marrying the person whom unmasked ya," he surmised.  
She nodded.  
Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose.  
"Gee, ain't that convenient for you and about as inconvenient for me,"

Ranma was in deep thought as he sat in front of the campfire that night. So many things had happened to him over the pass few days that he had barely had enough time to absorb it in. He had recently come in contact with a princess and offered to escort her home, only to find out that the princess had fallen in love with him. And to make matters worse, he had to break it to her that their love could never be. It pained him to hurt Rene like that, but it had to be done.  
He sighed as he thought about his current situation.  
Here he was, on some unknown world and in search of a woman named Luna Inverse in hopes of her helping him get home, provided she decide to help him in the first place. And above that, he now had a permanent addition to the team. "Gee, they're gonna love her," Ranma muttered sarcastically to himself as he thought about introducing Emiko to the gang back home, "They're gonna be thrilled,"  
"What are you talking about, Ranma?" Emiko asked. She was sitting next to him. She was no longer wearing a mask, her beautiful face now exposed for all to see. Oddly enough, she and Ranma were sitting in front of the exact same campfire where Ranma had accidentally unmasked her. Ranma replied softly, "Nothing much. I was just thinkin' aloud. That's all,"  
"Um, so what do you plan on doing?" she bothered to ask.  
"I dunno," he said after another sigh, "I'll probably end up bringing back with me to my own world since it seems like I'll never be able to change your mind. I'll probably get hell from the gang for bringing home yet another member to add to the group,"  
"What are you talking about?" Emiko asked, confused. She wondered what gang Ranma was referring to. At the moment, Ranma looked totally absorbed in his brainstorming, whatever it was.  
Ranma said, "Forget about it. It's nothing,"  
He lied down on his back, gazing up at the twinkling stars high above, making a secret wish that this little adventure on this world would come to a finish and fast.  
"You seem troubled," she commented.  
"You think?" he asked sarcastically.  
"Is it that bad? Are you that ashamed of marrying me?" Emiko asked, her gaze straight ahead toward the campfire, almost not daring to gaze into Ranma's eyes for fear of what he might say.  
"That? No. I'll deal with that later. It's just that I just feel bad about hurting Rene's feelings," he replied, gaze still heavenward.  
"What do you mean that you'll deal with our marriage later?"  
Ranma rolled onto his side to look at Emiko, his gaze intent, almost piercing, "I don't know how I'm gonna do it. But I'm gonna somehow find a way to get you to change your mind. Right now, you're trying to marry me out of obligation, and there must be some kinda loophole to getting around it. There has to be. And don't give me that question asking me if I'm trying to get rid of ya because, well, yeah, I do wanna get rid of ya. No offense of course. It's just that I've been through sooooo much in my life that having more things to worry about doesn't exactly make it any more relaxing,"  
"Oh,"  
Ranma let out another sigh, and then closed his eyes, "Let's just sleep on it. I'll deal with the situation in the morning,"  
Emiko was about to bring up that little proposition she had said earlier in the day, about how if she were not wed to Ranma by the end of the day, that she would kill herself, but when she noticed the haggard and stressed out look to his visage, she figured she would bring it up another time, maybe tomorrow.  
"Goodnight," Ranma said before finally dozing off.  
"Um, goodnight," Emiko replied, a bit surprised that Ranma still bothered to be nice to her even though he had been through so much. She also noticed something else, that Ranma had never teased her like he used to.

"Um, is there a reason why you're not teasing me?"  
"Huh? What kinda question is that?" Ranma looked dumbfounded. He had heard some odd ice breakers before, but this was definitely one that caught him off-  
guard.  
Emiko looked toward the ground, her foot seemingly drawing a tiny circle in the dirt, "Um, it's just that I've noticed you haven't teased me in a while,"  
"I figure you'd be glad," he commented, "You seemed to get really ticked off when I teased you like I did,"  
"Yeah, so why did you stop?"  
"Ya really wanna know?" he asked.  
She nodded.  
"There's no use in teasing you anymore," he said. When he noticed she was about to ask why, he continued on and said, "I teased you on purpose so you would hate me,"  
Emiko looked totally confused, "Excuse me? Why on earth would you do that?"  
"Because if you hated me, then there is no chance you would fall in love with me. However, through perhaps the misalignments of the moon and planets, I get into a situation that might as well be just that. Basically, there's no reason for me to act like an asshole,"  
The young ninja glared at him, her temper rising, "Why you arrogant...you really think that I would actually fall in love you? Who do you think you are? I'll never love someone like you,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulder, "Who really cares anyway. Considering the situation I'm in with you, it might as well be. Actually, if it had been that way, I could have been a chance that I could have made you fall out of love with me,"  
"Why you arrogant...egotistical...chauvanistic...I can't believe anyone could possibly fall in love with someone like you, let alone the princess!" Emiko commented. Although obligated to marry him, she still hated him. It was just that she rather marry someone than kill herself. However, after finding out this information, death might be far less painful.  
"You tell me," Ranma said seriously, "Perhaps then I can do the exact opposite of that next time I meet a girl,"  
Ranma continued to wander around town, "Excuse me, but would you happen to know of a person named Luna Inverse?" It was nearing the end of the day. In a few hours, they would have to find an inn to sleep or set up camp if they decided to continue on with their journey.  
"I'm sorry, but I've never heard of her," came the reply. He usually received the same replies, that they didn't know who she was or where he could find her. There were times when they recognized the name but had no idea where she could be found. He went around to the local taverns, asking questions, getting little answers. All the while, Emiko followed him closely.  
"I guess I better call it a day," he told Emiko, sitting down tiredly on a chair in the tavern. The tavern was busy, bustling with business and people chatting with one another.  
"I don't understand," Emiko said, "Who is this Luna Inverse person? And why are you looking for her?"  
Ranma leaned back in his chair, "Like I said before, I'm not from around here. My current situation is pretty grim on getting back home. The only idea I've come up with so far is to find this person named Luna Inverse in hopes of convincing her to help me get home, provided that it's possible,"  
"That seems like quit a long shot,"  
"Damn right," he said. Ranma leaned further back on the chair. Unfortunately, he leaned back a bit too much. He ended up tipping backward and landing flat on his back, he legs in the air, this embarrassed look on his face.  
Emiko couldn't help but giggle. Ranma quickly got to his feet, hoping to compose himself, "Um, I meant to do that,"  
Smiling, Emiko said, "I'm sure you were,"  
"Smooth move," came a female voice from behind hm.  
Ranma turned around and saw Lina Inverse standing before him. "Oh, it's you," he said before sitting down in his chair. He seemed to have forgotten the embarrassing scene he had made a second ago. He guestured to the open seat between him and Emiko, "Have a seat. So what brings you here? I thought you hated my guts or somethin',"  
Lina glanced down at the chair for a moment before deciding there was no harm in engaging in some small talk with Ranma. It wasn't as if chatting with him was all that bad anyway.  
Sitting down, Lina finally noticed the pretty young woman also sitting at the table. Their eyes met. "What's your problem? You have some kind of lazy eye or staring problem?" Lina asked in a cold voice. She had immediately noticed the hostility in the girl's eyes and she didn't like it one bit. Who does this girl think she is anyway, Lina thought.  
"What did you say?" Emiko stood up, her eyes creasing, hostility evident. She was the exact height as Lina. Lina stood up also, meeting the silent challenge.  
Ranma quickly got up out of his chair and in between Emiko and Lina, "Now now, there's no need to fight," He sighed. Why the heck did all girls seems to have hostility toward one another when in his presence? "Who is she, Ranma?" Lina asked Ranma, her gaze still on Emiko.  
"I was about to ask the same thing," Emiko said to Ranma, staring right back at the young magic-user.  
Ranma waited a moment before he said, "This is Lina," He then looked at Lina, "This is Emiko. We met a short while ago,"  
"I didn't see her with you when we bumped into each other the other day," Lina said, finally breaking contact and turning her attention toward Ranma. She had to crank her neck back quite a bit to look up into his eyes. He seemed to tower over her.  
"We met a short while ago," he said.  
"Ranma and I are to be wed," Emiko said flatly.  
"What?" Lina's eyes grew wide. She quickly turned her attention toward Ranma, "What is she talking about?"  
Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose.  
"This can't be happening,"

Ranma was walking backwards down the dirt trail. He was facing both Emiko and Lina as they reluctantly walked side by side. It was very dark out, the moonlight the only light showing them the trail before them.  
"So that's how I met Lina," he said to Emiko. He then looked at Lina, "And that's how I met Emiko. There's also a girl named Rene, but we ended up parting ways a couple of days ago,"  
"Hm, it sounds like an interesting trip you had there," Lina commented. She wondered how things could had gone about if she had been along side Ranma when he bumped into Rene. Lina remembered hearing rumors of a princess gone missing but it never occurred that Ranma had been the one to escort her back home safely.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I guess you can consider it interesting, especially when we Emiko was intent on trying to kill me every step of the way,"  
Lina's eyebrows raised slightly, "Kill you?" This was the first time it seemed Emiko and herself had something in common. They both seemed to have tried to kill Ranma at some point in time after having met Ranma.  
"However, it's no longer relevent because we are to wed," Emiko commented.  
"Will you quit reminding me that we're supposed to get married?" Ranma muttered.  
Lina glared at Emiko for a short moment before asking Ranma, "What the heck's that about?"  
"Um, I accidentally removed her mask," he said, "And there's this law she lives by that makes her have to marry the person that unmasks her,"  
"Hmph, it'd probably be better if she keep the mask on," Lina smirked, "It'd help hide that ugly mug of hers,"  
"What did you say?" Emiko's voice rose a notch, "I am not ugly! Perhaps you should look into a mirror! You're as ugly as sin!"  
"What did you say?" Lina sneered. The two girls turned to face each other, their fists clenched. Lina's hand was on the hilt of the sword strapped to her waist. It still remained sheathed. Emiko had one of her hands in the folds of her outfit where one of her daggers were hidden.  
"If you even attempt to unsheath your sword, the you'll be dead before you know it," Emiko threatened, eyes narrow, in a ready stance.  
"You have no idea who you're dealing with," Lina smirked, not one bit daunted by Emiko's threats.  
"Nor yourself," the young ninja replied.  
Ranma let out an exaspperated breath, "Girls, will you please quit trying to rip each other's head off?"  
Lina said, "I'll yield if the little ninja girl here yields,"  
"I'll only yield if the little miss sleight of hand here yields," Emiko stated.  
Both of them were at the ready.  
"Now hold up, girls! There'll be no fighting!" Ranma quickly raced forward and held hands out from his body, holding each girl at arms length from each other. It only took a short moment before he realized that both of his hands were pressed against something very soft.  
He gulped as closed his eyes. He didn't even need to look to know that he had a hand on each of Emiko and Lina's breast. He dared to open one eye to look at Emiko, who was now glowing red with anger. He closed that eye and opened the other one, looking at Lina, who was also glowing red with angry.  
"Um, er, I-I didn't mean it," he said meekly. He knew he was going to be in a world of hurt in a just a few inevitable second.  
"You pervert!" both girls shouted, agreeing one one thing and attacking Ranma.

It was around midnight as Ranma walked down the dirt trial as both Emiko and Lina screamed their lungs out. He had two palm prints on either cheek, an annoyed look on his face. In one arm, Lina was struggling to free herself. In the other, Emiko was trying the same. Neither of the girls could do much though because their arms were at their sides with Ranma's arm wrapped around them. He was basically carrying them like packages, their torso's parallel to the ground, held so that they were both looking at each other.  
"Rape! Lettgo! Rape!" Lina screamed, her slender legs thrashing in attempts to kick at the back of Ranma's knees.  
"Unhand me!" Emiko shouted, continuing to struggle, also trying to kick at the back of his knees.  
The two of them had been trying to struggle for the past ten minutes.  
"Go scream your heads out," Ranma smirked, "I'm gonna throw the both of you into the river. Maybe that'll cool you two hot-heads off quite quickly,"  
"I'll kill you if you do!" Lina spat, continuing to thrash. Her hands were right by her sheathed sword, but because they were held tautly against her body, she couldn't unsheath it. The same thing goes for Emiko. She couldn't reach into the folds of her outfit to take out her dagger.  
"I'm sure you will, just like all those other attempts," he commented.  
He walked for about three minutes before he came upon a clearing with river running through it. The two girls started screaming louder and louder as Ranma got closer and closer to the river, them both very aware that they were going to be thrown in if they didn't escape his hold and fast.  
Ranma walked up to the river.  
He grinned at the two girls, "Have a nice swim,"  
He threw both of them into the river. However, the moment he released his hold on them to throw them, Luna had casted a levitations spell, skirting the water with only her boots before she flew up into the air, while Emiko reached a hand out and grabbed Ranma's.  
Because of the momentum of Emiko flying through the air and her having grabbed his hand, Ranma ended up tumbling forward and into the river, Emiko landing skillfully on his back and propelling off it and landing safely on the dry land.  
Ranma resurfaced, soaking wet, shocked at how cold the water was.  
"Arghh, that's cold!" he shrieked as he quickly got out of the river and onto dry land. He was gasping for air, his hands on his knees.  
Hovering in the air, Lina laughed, "Serves you right,"  
"That's for sure," Emiko smirked, making sure she was a good distance away, just in case he decided to make another attempt at grabbing her and throwing her into the river.  
"Hmph!"

Ranma gazed down at the crackling campfire, his head resting on his knees as he sat with his back against a tree. Nearby was Emiko, sound asleep. Lina was also nearby on his opposite side, also sound asleep.  
As he continued to get drawn in by the campfire, Ranma thought about how he was going to go about with his plan. All he could do now was continue heading west in hopes of coming across a person who might know of Luna Inverse's whereabouts. He just hoped that as he got closer and closer to Luna's hometown, more and more people would know about her. However, it didn't help any that he had no idea how far away this town could be since Lina wasn't any help.  
Lina giggled in her sleep causing Ranma to turn her attention toward him.  
"Stop that, Ranma," Lina giggled again, acting out in her sleep as she was trying to stop some invisible person from tickling her.  
"What the?" Ranma gave Lina a very odd look. She was twisting and turning around in her sleep, giggling aloud. He could have sworn he had heard her say his name. He got up from where he sat and walked over to where Lina lay, kneeling down next to her, "Hey, Lina," he said, his voice barely a whisper. He reached a hand out and nudged one of her shoulders, "Yo, Lina, wake up,"  
From the other side of the campground, Emiko, now awake from the voice she had heard a second, gazed over toward Lina's side. Since Ranma was in between her and Lina, all Emiko could see was Ranma's back as he seemed to be kneeling by her side.  
Just as Ranma was about to reach out again to give Lina another nudge, Emiko shouted out his name, startling him.  
Startled, Ranma quickly turned his attention toward Emiko, falling forward since he had been kneeling on the balls of his feet. He grasped forward to prevent himself from falling on top of the sleeping Lina, only to realize it too late that Lina was the only thing that was in front of his hands.  
Lina's eyes shot wide open as both of Ranma's hands landed on her chest, a hand on each breast, Ranma falling down on top of her.  
Ranma quickly got up to his feet, "Hold up! I can explain!"  
Blushing beet-red, Lina bared her teeth, "Ranma!"  
Emiko pulled a dagger from one of the folds of her outfit, "How dare you cheat on me!"  
She threw the dagger toward Ranma's head, Ranma able to tilt his head just in the nick of time, the dagger shooting right past his ear and becoming embedded in a nearby tree.  
Still blushing, Lina looked down toward her chest where she saw Ranma's hand resting firmly on it. She looked up at Ranma and then back down at her chest. His hand was still there. She did it once more, making sure what she was seeing was correct. Yes, his hand was indeed on here chest.  
"Eeeeek!" Lina shouted at the top of lungs, all the while slapping Ranma back and forth several hundred times. Releasing his hold of her, Ranma quickly got up to his feet, ducking and weaving underneath the rest of Lina's attempted slaps. "Hold up! I can explain!" he said, finally deciding he had had enough and grabbing each of Lina's incoming hands with his own. When Lina tried to kick him in the groin, he managed to close his legs on the incoming kick so that her ankle was held fast between his inner thighs.  
Although Lina was now unable to attack Ranma, what with both her hands and one of her legs being restrained of movement, Ranma still ended up getting whacked upside his head as Emiko proceeded to execute perfect roundhouses toward his temple from behind.  
"Quit it!" Ranma said loudly, turning to face her, only to receive a well placed punch squarely on his face. When she didn't stop, Ranma quickly freed one of his hands grabbed Emiko's incoming one, only to get hit upside his head again by Lina's now free hand.  
"Arghhhh!" Ranma muttered, releasing his grip on both girls.  
Before any of the girls had a chance to attack him, he reached out with both arms and wrapped them around each of the girls, having it so that their arms were at their side as he held onto them.  
An annoyed look on his face, Ranma proceeded to carry them toward the nearby river, "That's it! You girls are definitely going in the river this time around,"  
With their legs flailing about, the girls started shouting at Ranma.  
"Let go of us!" Lina said, struggling as hard as she could. "Unhand me!" Emiko shouted, also struggling.  
Ranma continued to walk in silence for several minutes before he finally reached the river. He said, "Maybe a lil dip in the river will cold you two down!"  
Then then attempted to throw both of them into the river. Although he expected to see both girls go flying into the freezing cold water, the outcome was quite different. Having totally forgotten what had happened last time, Ranma watched in shock as Lina managed to cast her levitation spell at the very last moment and hover up and away from the water to safety while Emiko managed to grab his arms and using her momentum to cause Ranma to tumble forward and into the river once again, skillfully hoping on his back and onto the dry dirt.  
"Damnit!" Ranma muttered, emerging from the freezing cold water, "I'll get the two of you for that!"

new scenes 12/7

Lina and Emiko and Ranma were walking down a dirt trail. It was around nine in the morning. Although Lina and Emiko both felt a bit reluctant to walking along side Ranma after that river incident last night, Ranma seemed to show now animosity toward either of them.  
Lina walked by Ranma's right side while Emiko his left. Although they both seemed to have a mutual dislike toward Ranma, they didn't seem to like each other any bit either. There was something about Emiko that annoyed Lina and vice versa. However, they didn't seem to have much trouble conversing, since Ranma seemed to keep the conversation going.  
"Man, I hope we come across a hot spring," he commented, "I'm aching all over," He rubbed his shoulder and neck.  
"There is a hot spring about a half day's walk from here," Lina said.  
"Really?"  
Lina nodded, "Yeah, I know this area pretty well. Actually, I knew this area pretty well. I haven't been around here in about a year or so,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Well, let's just hope that it hasn't dried up or anythin'. I'm dying for a nice warm bath in a hot spring right now,"  
"It must sure beat those freezing cold dips in a river you seem prone to taking," Emiko couldn't help but comment, smirking the entire time.  
"Ha ha, real funny," Ranma said sarcastically as he gave Emiko a wry look. Although he was a bit miffed from the incidents with him falling into a river twice, he couldn't keep his visage serious, his persed lips eventually turning into a smile.  
Emiko gazed at Ranma for a second longer than usual. She never noticed he had a rather nice smile before.  
Slowly, she smiled back weakly. Ranma looked up at the tiny building in front of him. He and the others were in front of what used to be the hot spring Lina had mentioned. However, it seemed someone had taken it upon themselves to turn that hot spring into a family business because there was now a small building that seemed to represent the entrance to that hot spring. The surrounding area was nothing but trees.  
"When the heck did you hafta pay to use this hot spring?" Lina spat, obviously angry. She couldn't believe someone had the gall to turn an public place of relaxation into a private business. She should had thought of something like that.  
Ranma smirked, "Well, if you think about it, like you mentioned before, you haven't been to this place in a year. I guess someone took it upon themselves to turn this hot spring into a business...and a very busy one at that," He noticed that there were many people entering the building that would lead them to the hot spring itself.  
"I find it rather annoying that someone would do that," Lina added, crossing her arms in front of her chest, looking at the building before her with contempt.  
"Why, because you didn't think of somethin' like that yourself first?" Ranma asked, grinning.  
Lina, caught off guard at just Ranma managed to hit it right on the nail, which seemed to show that he knew her better than she expected, quickly stammered, blushing slightly, "N-n-no! Not one bit!"  
Ranma pointed at Lina, a grin extending from ear to ear, "Ha, you're lying!"  
"I am not!"  
"Yeah right," he continued to tease, "You're angry because you could be the one sitting on yer butt while all that dough come in. Here you are, doin' dangerous bounty work when you could have been enjoying a relaxing day by a hot spring and makin' money from it,"  
Lina gave Ranma a wry look, "And just what makes you think that? How do you know I don't like my kinda work? You don't know me,"  
"Ha, considerin' I had the displeasure of havin' your company," he persisted, "I betcha I know ya better than you think. Heck, I betcha right now I can guess what color panties you're wearing,"  
"Displeasure? Me? Yeah right! You should be honored to have had my company along your journey," she retorted distainfully. After a moment, the second sentence that Ranma had said finally registered, "M-my panties? What about them?"  
"They're purple," he said confidently.  
Blushing a horribly, she quickly said, "T-t-they are not!" It was true. Ranma was wrong. They're violet.  
"Sorry, they're probably violet or somethin'," he shrugged his shoulders.  
"H-how do you know?" Lina's eyes widened. If he knew, then that must had meant he must had taken peek at her when she had idiotically gone skinny dipping in that river early in the morning, when her clothes had been Ranma's eyes widened, "Oh man, I was only kidding. I was only taking a guess,"  
Her face seemingly glowing bright red from embarrassment, "Y-you were?"  
"Hey, quit flirting with that flat-chested girl," Emiko said jealously. Although she hated Ranma, she didn't like the personal conversation her future husband and Lina were having.  
"F-flat chested? Why you!" Lina's embarrassment disappeared, replaced with murderous rage toward Emiko, a fireball started glowing in her right hand, "I'm gonna make you eat those words,"  
"Well it's true," Emiko said, her hands on her slender hips, "Especially when compared to myself,"  
Ranma nodded slightly, talking to himself, "That's true. Lina is a bit flatchested,"  
Emiko blushed red, "T-thank you, R-Ranma,"  
"Um, er" he said meekly. He knew that if Emiko had heard him, then that would had meant Lina would had heard also.  
"I am not flatchested!" Lina shot a fireball at Ranma.  
Since Ranma had been expecting to see Lina shoot the fireball at Emiko, he was unable to dodge the fireball when he realized too late that fireball had been shot toward him. The fireball exploded on his chest, enveloping him. Although both Emiko and Lina were near him when it him, the explosion didn't reach them.  
"Ranma!" Emiko shouted out, surprising even herself that she could show concern for a man she hated so much. She quickly composed herself and pretended she felt it was right that Ranma had that coming to him.  
When the explosion subsided, Ranma stood right where he was, slightly singed.  
Ranma stood there for a moment before he started laughing, "Ha, that felt like nothing. You're losing your touch. With fireballs like that, even Kinky Ninja Girl over there will be able to beat ya,"  
"K-kinky ninja girl?" Emiko's eyes widened.  
"Yeah, who knows where you keep that dagger of yours," Ranma commented.  
"I keep it in the folds of-"  
"See! I told ya," Ranma interrupted.  
"In the fold of my _outfit_!" she shouted. She quickly tried to steer the conversation away from herself, "And just what the hell do you mean by 'even' I can beat her? I can beat her any day of the week!"  
"Yeah right," Lina sneered at Emiko.  
Ranma, happy that the girls are now acting out their anger toward each other instead of himself, took it upon himself to tiptoe away from them and toward the entrance to the hot springs.  
"Hee hee, now's my chance," he said to himself.  
"Hey where the hell do you think you're going?" both girls said in unison when they noticed Ranma as he was just about to enter the building.  
"Um, er, I-I was just going in to take look around," he said meekly.  
"Wait up for me," the two girls said, seemingly abandoning their little conflict with each other to follow after Ranma.

Ranma looked at the billboard in front of him. Lina was standing next to him while Emiko was looking about, checking out some of the posters and flyers posted on the large bulletin borad near the back of the room. "Hm, only one gold piece for admittance per person," Ranma commented, "That doesn't seem a lot, does it?"  
"What a freakin' rip-off!" Lina gasped, "One gold piece? I can get into a spring like this in the most expensive village on this continent for only one silver piece,"  
Ranma fished through his pockets and came up empty, "Damn, I have no money,"  
Lina smirked as she continued on, "But then again, I'm pretty sure this spring is very relaxing and the water must have some very good healing properties for it to be so expensive,"  
"Can you lend me some money then?" he asked.  
Lina grinned, "Nope,"  
"But what about all that money I have you back then?" he said, "I must have given you a hundred or so of those gold pieces, what with the bounty from that black dragon I caught and the money I got from all those bandits,"  
Lina shrugged her shoulder, her visage icy cold, "So? Just because you did me a favor and gave me money doesn't obligate me to do any favors back,"  
She smirked when she noticed the muscles around Ranma's jaw tighten. She liked that warm fuzzy feeling she always got when she blatantly annoyed someone and it showed on their face. It was also nice to have Ranma on the receiving end for a change.  
Ranma turned toward Emiko, "Can I borrow a gold piece?"  
Emiko let out an annoyed breath and turned her gaze away, "Now you ask me, after having asked Lina first? I would have given you a piece had you asked me first, but now I won't, only because you felt it would be better to ask Lina first,"  
"But Lina was standing closer to me," Ranma said logically.  
"Too bad," Emiko said.  
Lina continued to grin, "Hm, I guess you have no money to get in. So how are you going to get in?"  
Ranma annoyed at both girls, approached a pretty young woman as she was entered the building. She had long flowing brown hair that came down to her waist and chocolate brown eyes and was clad in a kimono, a coin purse attacked to the sash around her waist, and had a bath bucket in her hands, obviously about to enjoy a nice long soak in the hot spring.  
"Excuse me," he asked the young girl, "But would you happen to have one gold piece you can spare for me? I'm really tired and-"  
The girl, obviously attracted to the gorgeous man standing before her, smiled warmly, "Of course. I'd be more than happy to," She reached into a tiny pouch and produce a single gold coin and handed to him.  
Ranma extended his hand and took the coin, but not before the girl placed both hand on his, manually closing his hand on the coin for him, taking several moments to continue holding his hand before finally letting go.  
Oblivious to the starry-eyed gaze the pretty young woman was giving him and the icy cold ones from Emiko and Lina, Ranma said, "Thanks a lot. I owe you. I promise, I'll pay you back somehow. By the way, I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome,"  
"I'm Sayuri Koto. And it's okay, how about you pay me back by escorting me to the festival in town tonight?" the woman dared to ask. Ranma thought about it for a split second before he said, "Sure. I see no problem in that,"  
Emiko took it upon herself to approach Ranma and clear her throat loudly, "I don't think so, _honey_,"  
Ranma jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Emiko, "Don't worry about about her. She's just trying to prevent me from paying you back because she's jealous and mad at herself for not having let me money in the first place,"  
"What? I am not!" Emiko shouted. She glared at Sayuri, "You stay away from him if you know what's good for you," "Don't threaten her," Ranma snapped back at Emiko, which made her start.  
Emiko bit her lip. Ranma actually seemed angry at her. It was not a pretty sight, something she wanted to see very little of in the upcoming year.  
"Fine, I'll lend you the money," Emiko said after a very long moment, swallowing her pride.  
Ranma smirked slightly, figuring he should do the same to her as she him a moment ago, to not accept it out of spite, just like how she didn't help him out of spite.  
After about a minute, Sayuri and Lina looking back and forth between Ranma and Emiko, Ranma sighed.  
He smiled at Sayuri and then handed the coin back, "Well, I guess I don't need to borrow your money,"  
Sayuri looked down at the coin Ranma had handed back, somewhat saddened, "Oh,"  
"Thanks anyway," he smiled warmly.  
"Um, I guess the festival is off," she dared to ask.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows. Maybe I'll see you there,"  
Sayuri gave a weak smiled, "Um, yeah, maybe,"  
Ranma leaned back against the rock, trying to enjoy the quietness of the hot spring. The hot spring had been divided by a large stone wall right down the middle of it, one side for the females while the other side for the males. Although that was basically how the typical public baths were back home for Ranma, the one noticeable difference was that there seemed to be virtually no males on his side of the spring. It seemed as the hot springs of this world seemed to attract the females while the males stayed away. This was obvious because Ranma could hear the constant chatter of what was probably the several dozen or so females just on the other side of the wall.  
He looked around and noticed that only he and some other guy occupied this side of the wall.  
"Excuse me," Ranma called out to the man.  
"Yes?" the man answered from the other side of the spring. The man seemed to be in his early forties and wore glasses, even though he was submerge in the water up to his shoulders.  
"Is there a reason there seems to be so little guys in this section of the spring?" he asked, "I mean, from where I come from, there's usually the same amount of males as there are females visiting these hot springs,"  
The man smirked, "I guess you're not from around here. The closest village is only about a twenty minute walk away. Most of women come to this bath to chat and relax. The men tend to avoid this place because they can't relax, what with the sounds of the women talking on the other side of the wall constantly going. They prefer to stay home and sleep since we all work so very hard. Me, I don't mind the chatter. I just block it out,"  
"Oh, I never knew that," Ranma said.  
The man got up and out of the water, "Well, I've been here for over an hour and don't want to pass out from heat stroke. It's been nice talking to you. I hope I was some help,"  
"You were. Thanks a lot," Ranma relied kindly, "It was a pleasure talking with you,"  
The man left the spring, leaving Ranma all by his lonesome. Ranma sighed and closed his eyes, letting his worries get washed away by the natural hot water of the spring. However, he couldn't relax for very long because the sounds of the women chatting on the other side was very evident.  
"Damn, they never stop talking, do they?" he muttered to himself.  
He tried to relax again, much to no avail. Annoyed, Ranma climbed up the rock which was the only natural barriar between the male and female side besides that stone wall. When he made it to the top, he peeked over the wall and toward the other side. "Hey, can you girls talk a bit softer? It's kinda hard to relax over here with all the chatting going on," Ranma said loud enough for everyone to hear. There must had been fifty naked females in the spring talking at once.  
The chatting stopped abruptly as all the girls turned to look at the obviously male voice they had heard from the nearby wall. All of their gazes rested on Ranma's head as he could be seen from the chest up from the top of the wall.  
Ranma scanned the crowd of naked ladies, a bit surprised that they all actually bothered to oblige. His gaze rested on Lina and Emiko when he caught sight of them as they were both about to step into the hot spring. They were both naked, in full view for Ranma to see.  
"Oh, hey guys," Ranma smirked, giving them a thumbs up, "Lookin' good,"  
"Ranma! You pervert!" Lina shouted, quickly jumping into the water, letting it submerge to her neck. Emiko quickly did the same. Lina's voice was the only one heard since their was total silence, all the females in shock upon realizing that there was a guy by the top of the wall looking down on them.  
"Hey, it's not like I haven't seen you two naked already, sheesh," he let out an exasperated breath. He then noticed all the other eyes on him. It kind of freaked him out, "What?"  
The female side of the spring erupted into a frenzy as all the females screamed 'Pervert' in unison and them seemed to form a single unity with one sole purpose, to hit Ranma's head with the washing pails strewn about.  
Ranma casually ducked and waved and sidestepped every incoming projectile.  
After having managed to dodge about a hundred or so pails, Ranma finally got hit. He was struck in the face, the pail breaking upon impact, Ranma falling backwards and into the water on his side of the spring.  
Resurfacing, he rubbed his nose, "That was uncalled for,"

Lina proceeded to climb the rock on her side of the spring.  
"What are you doing?" Emiko bothered to ask.  
"It's none of your damn business, ninja girl," Lina snorted in reply, showing her contempt and obvious dislike of her.  
Emiko clenched her hands, "Do you have a problem?"  
"Yeah," Lina replied, looking down at Emiko from her vantage point on the rock. She was about halfway up. "I don't like you,"  
"The feeling's mutual," Emiko commented, her eyes narrowing. She felt the yearning to throttle that annoying trouble maker.  
"Hmph," Lina snorted before ignoring Emiko and making her way back up the rock.  
"You're going to peep on Ranma, aren't ya?" Emiko asked.  
"Are you always this damn nosy?"  
"Are ya?"  
"Yeah," Lina finally said, believing it was better to answer her than ignore her, "He already saw me naked twice and I haven't seen him even once. Now it's time to get some payback,"

Lina made it to the top of the rock and was about to peek over the wall and toward Ranma's side when something latched onto her ankle. Looking down, she saw Emiko as she held a firm grip on her ankle.  
"Hey! Lettgo if you know what's good for ya!" Lina threatened, attempting to shake Emiko's girp loose.  
"I'm not going to stand idle while you peep on my future husband," Emiko sneered back, slowly making her way up to the top of the rock to stand up and right in front of Lina, her back toward the men's side, blocking poor Lina's line of sight.  
Lina looked a bit confused, "What gives? What the heck do you care? You hate him. You even said it yourself,"  
"Still," Emiko didn't back down, "That's aside from the point,"  
"What's Lina trying to do?" Ranma's voice came from behind Emiko.  
Before realizing exactly where she was, Emiko replied, "She was trying to peep on you, Ranma,"  
"Really?" Ranma's brow raised slightly.  
Emiko was about to say something else until she realized something. Waitaminute! Ranma was behind her!  
Emiko quickly turned around and came face to face was Ranma as he gazed back at her from the other side of the wall, his chin resting on his forearms as his arms rested on the top of the wall.  
"Eeek!" Emiko shouted as she brought her hands up to cover her breasts.  
Ranma smirked, "Don't forget to cover yer lower half," He turned his gaze onto Lina and said, "The same thing goes for you, too, Lina,"

"Excuse me, but aren't you Lina Inverse?" a young woman asked. Everything seemed to have calmed down. After Ranma had received a beat down within an inch of his life by both Lina and Emiko, things went about as usual, Ranma now keeping to his side of the spring and never daring to take another peep back over the wall.  
Lina smiled. "Why yes I am," she said confidently. I guess my reputation is a lot better than I thought, Lina thought silently to herself, a smile on her lips. I wasn't expecting people here to recognize me or who I am.  
"I figured I recognized you," the young woman said, "We met about a week or so ago back in Traver Village, where you were, um, giving that little magic display,"  
"Magic display?" Lina asked curiously, "What magic display?"  
The young woman blushed slightly, "Y'know, of that, um, virile young man taking a bath,"  
"Y-you were one of the women who saw that?" Lina's eyes widened. She had done that in a town in what seemed around a hundred miles away from here. She remember that time clearly. She had conjured an image of Ranma in a bathtub and made women pay her to see that image. She had made quite a bit when word had spread about on just how handsome a man it was.  
The woman nodded, "Well, yeah, more or less. Um, I've been meaning to ask you something,"  
"What is it?"  
"Exactly who was that man that you were displaying?" she asked, "He was very handsome,"  
"The guy is named Ranma," Lina said, shrugging his shoulders, "Actually, he happens to be the guy just right over the wall,"  
"T-that's him?" the girl's eyes widened.  
"Yeah, so?"  
The young girl smiled happily, "Oh, nothing,"

Ranma was arguing with Lina and Emiko as they walked down the dirt trail.  
"C'mon," Ranma said, "It's clearly better to be a guy," He and Lina and Emiko had been simply chatting about nothing in particular, just passing the time since it was better to chat than walk in silence during the whole journey.  
He stopped for a moment, "Man, I remember havin' a conversation like this back home,"  
"Hmph," Emiko muttered, "I can't believe I'm gonna marry someone as sexist and egocentric as yourself,"  
"So don't," he replied, "I ain't twistin' yer arm to marry me. Besides, it's a dumb law anyway,"  
Lina quickly spoke up, a bit of ice and sarcasm in her voice, "I'm sure you two would make a lovely couple,"  
Ranma turned toward Lina, "Hey, I'm here trying to make the kinky ninja here have some doubts about that law. Dontcha go reassuring her anything,"  
"Quit calling me that!" Emiko sneered, "You've got some nerve! I oughta cut your tongue out for your lack of respect toward me,"  
"Gee, I'm really scared," he taunted, smiling slightly, "I better watch out for that dagger you keep in god knows where,"  
Emiko started to fume, an almost visible aura of red forming around her, "Why you!"  
Lina took a step back, smiling mischieviously. She didn't like Emiko one bit, nor Ranma, and was looking forward to seeing the both of them at each other's throats. Sure, Ranma would inevitably be the victor, but it wasn't all that bad to see Emiko put in her place.  
"C'mon, why do ya even bother?" he said, trying to be logical, "I'm not only faster than you, but also more experienced and have faster reflexes,"  
"Hmph!"

Lina grummbled to herself as she slid down the boulder and into the hot spring. She sighed as she felt the warmth of the water envelop her naked body all the way up to her shoulders. "I would no longer be dead than be seen sharing a hot spring with the likes of you, but since it seems both of us are in desperate need of some form of relaxation," she said, "I guess we could have a truce,"  
"My sentiments exactly," Emiko reluctantly agreed. As she slid into the hot spring, all her worries seemed to melt away with the warmth that washed over her own naked body. She laid her back against the big boulder located adjacent to Lina's boulder. This was the first time both girls were alone.  
Since the two of them were alone, there was nothing but silence since neighter of them wanted to talk to one another. However, there were many silent messages being sent with the glares given back and forth when either one weren't looking.  
She's so flat-chested, Emiko thought wryly. I'm much bigger than her. Although we're the same age, I'm much more developed than her. Lina's not even all that great a fighter either. She's got nothing over me in terms of skill.  
She's so snotty, Lina thought to herself, thinking she's better than me. Just because I'm not as developed than her doesn't make her better than me. Hmph, it's not like it matters. I can beat her anytime, anywhere, anyplace. That's all that matters.  
"What are you looking at?" Lina glared when their gaze met.  
"Just the most flat-chested girl I have ever seen," Emiko retorted.  
"What did you say?" Lina was tempted to stand up.  
"You heard me," Emiko stood up, not at all embarrassed.  
Lina stood up to face the challenge, "I'll make you eat those words. Keep in mind that Ranma's not here. Even though I don't like him, I'm only tolerating you out of curtesy toward him.  
"Same here. But now that he's not around..." she left her sentenced unfinished so that Lina could figure it out herself.  
Both girls seemed to glow red from their evident animosity toward one another. Just as they were about to start fighting, a voice emerged from one of the bushes.  
"Ooh, cat fight," Ranma commented, stepping out of the bushes. He was fully clothed.  
"R-Ranma! Eeeek!" both girls shrieked as they quickly ducked down into the water.  
"Pervert!" Emiko added.  
Ranma grinned, "Well, at least now I know both of your natural hair color,"  
"Get away from here!" Lina shouted, attempting to splash water toward him to scare him away. He was no more than twenty feet from the edge of the hot spring.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, just out of the water's reach, "And if I don't?"  
"You're going to regret it," Emiko shouted, a dagger in hand despite having gotten into the hot spring totally naked.  
"Hmmmm, now I wonder where that came from," Ranma asked, showing obvious signs of curiosity.  
Ranma stood there for a minute, which seemed like well beyond an eternity, before he said, "All right, I'll leave...but not before I do something,"  
"What?" both girls asked.  
Ranma walked up to the bundle of clothes and picked it up, bra and panties and all. He looked at it for a moment, "Hm, these must belong to Miss rabbit outuva hat since they're purple...I mean violet. But then again, the cape kinda gives it away,"  
"W-what are you doing? And what do you mean by rabbit out of a hat?" Lina asked, about to stand up before realizing the predicament she was in.  
Ranma walked over toward the other pile by the other side of the hot spring and picked it up, "And that means these belong to Miss kinky ninja,"  
"I do not keep my dagger there! And what the hell are you doing with my clothes?" Emiko shouted. She threw her dagger toward Ranma, "Give those back!"  
Ranma casually caught the projectile between his index and middle finger. He flicked it over his shoulder where it became embedded in a nearby tree.  
"What are you doing with our clothes?" Lina said.  
"I'm gonna burn 'em," Ranma grinned, "I'm gonna get back at the both of you for dumpin' me into the river twice back there. This is a lil payback,"  
"What?" the both shouted, realizing Ranma's words. Ranma was actually going to follow through on his promise to get back at them.  
Ranma waved the clothes around, "Hey, I ain't a bad guy or nothing, but I'm not a good guy either,"  
"It was your fault!" Lina said. She glared at the back of Ranma's head. If she had a good enough aim, a fireball to his back would at least knock him out, allowing her enough time to climb out of the hot spring and retreive her clothes.  
Ranma laughed, "So? Even if it was, it doesn't matter. I'm gonna sleep better knowin' I got back at the both of ya. Hee hee," He walked off a disappeared behind the bushes.  
"Ranma! Get back here!" was all that could be heard from the two girls.  
After a minute, Ranma finally came back.  
"Here," he said, throwing both girls back their bra and panties. There was no real need to make them suffer. A humbling experience was all that he wanted to give them, not a mortifying one.

Ranma sat on a rock in front of a campfire and continued to grin as two fuming girls approached him. Although the average man would be sacred at the sight of seeing an angry female, let alone two, Ranma had delt with more angry females that any man ever that he felt a bit nostalgic. It brought back memories having girls angry, no, fuming at him. "Give us back our clothes!" Lina sneered despite the blush on her cheeks.  
"We're both going to kill you," Emiko added. After Ranma had left, Emiko and Lina had agreed to join forces, albeit shortly, to get their clothes back and make Ranma suffer horribly. They both walked up to Ranma.  
Ranma, holding his the clothes in one hand, stood to his full height, towering over both girls. He raised the hand toward the air, out of reach of both girls.  
"Give us our clothes back!" Lina shouted, jumping and reaching up for the clothes, unable to reach it. "What's the magic word?"  
"Give us our clothes back NOW!" she said.  
"That's not it," he smiled.  
Emiko jumped up and grabbed onto the clothes. Unfortunately, Ranma's grip had been taut, preventing her from pulling them free. Instead, she ended up becoming suspended in mid-air as she held on to them in front of Ranma, both arms held above her head, her breasts pressed against Ranma's face. Realizing this, she quickly brough her legs up and wrapped them around his arm, her hands holding his wrists firmly, as if putting it into a vertical armbar, her backside resting between the crook of Ranma's neck and shoulder.  
She attempted to hyperextend his arm at the elbow by arcing her back.  
"Whatcha trying to do there?" Ranma asked, knowing full well of Emiko's attempt. He brought his arm down, pointing his clenched hand toward the ground, Emiko ending up holding on while upside down, the blood rushing to her head. Because he had brought his arm down, Lina was about to reach out and grab a hold of the clothes. However, she was unable to put them free.  
"Let go!" she shouted, pulling with all her might. She was very tempted to call forth her Ragna Blade to use it to cut Ranma's hand off, just to teach him a lesson. However, she didn't. With a man the likes of Ranma, he didn't deserve having a spell of that calibur used on him.  
Ranma reached his free hand forward and unclasped Lina's bra strap. Lina quickly stopped what she was doing to prevent her bra from falling off, Ranma grinning all the while.  
"You bastard!" Lina spat, bringing her foot up at right toward Ranma's groin. Unfortunately, Ranma closed his legs, trapping Lina's ankle between his inner thighs right before her foot would had done some serious damage.  
Hopping on one leg, both her hands holding her bra up, Lina was unable to do anything but continue to hop to keep her balance.  
Ranma looked down at Emiko as she continued to try and hyperextend his arm, "Um, you do know that ain't gonna work, right?" He used his free hand to grab the clothes out of his other hand since Emiko had been holding his wrist the whole time, not the clothes. When Emiko noticed Ranma changing hands with the clothes, she had released her grip on his wrist to reach out for them, only to find out too late that her legs weren't strong enough to hold her onto Ranma's arm while upside down. She ended up slipping down his arm and falling toward the ground headfirst, only to have Ranma catch her by one ankle when her head was just inches from the ground.  
"Let go!" Emiko shouted, using her free leg to kick toward Ranma, unable to hit him since his armlength was longer than her thrashing leg. She then proceeded to kick as his wrist, "Let go of me!"  
"Hey, didja know that from my vantage point every time you bring your leg back to kick at my wrist I can see a certain part of your panties REALLY well," Ranma commented.  
Emiko immediately stopped kicking him.  
With both girls basically incapacitated, Ranma said, "Well, I've had enough fun at your expense, the same way you had fun at my expense back then,"  
He gently placed Emiko down and on her feet and released Lina. He then handed the clothes back to the both of them before sitting down near the campfire. Both girls stared at him, seemingly in shock at the turn of events, of how quickly Ranma had given them back their clothes.  
"All of that! You went through all of that to get back at us?" Lina asked, quickly putting her clothes on.  
Ranma nodded, "More or less. I'll get back at you for trying to peep on me back there at that hot spring business we stopped at,"  
Neither girls said anything.  
How did he know?

Ranma slept soundly. He was on his back, his arms stretched out from his body. Emiko and Lina slept nearby, using rocks for pillows and whatever they were wearing for blankets. They gazed at Ranma with content, envious that he wasn't cold that night. It was quite chilly yet he seemed totally unaffected by it.  
Although both girls did plan to kill Ranma sometime through the night, their need for it seemed to have disappeared. It was probably because they were more fascinated with how Ranma stayed warm. The campfire that was roaring nearby didn't help keep them warm one bit.  
"How does he do it?" Emiko asked Lina. They were nearby each other but had been aware that neither had been asleep. Ranma was sleeping in between the two of them, acting out as a buffer zone.  
"How the heck am I supposed to know?" Lina replied.  
"For your information, I'm actually a bit hot right now," Ranma said in a sleepy voice.  
"Y-you're awake?" Lina and Emiko said in unison.  
Ranma sat upright, resting most of his weight on his elbows, "If I weren't, then why would I be talking? Are you two cold?"  
Lina and Emiko looked at one another. They said nothing, neither of them wanting to give Ranma the pleasure of knowing they were cold. He yawned and laid back down, "If you're cold, the closer you get to me, the warmer you'll be,"  
"What do you mean?" Emiko asked.  
"Well, unlike magic where you hafta summon it, ki, which is what I know how to use, is subconscious. And since I basically have an infinite supply of it..." He got up and walked over to where Emiko was sitting. He extended his hand toward her. Immediately, the young girl could feel a sense of warmth enter her body. It soon disappeared as Ranma walked over to where Lina was and did the same.  
"It's your choice," he said before walking back toward his usual sleeping spot and then going to sleep.  
"Hey, wake up," Ranma nearly shouted into the ears of both Lina and Emiko's. Ranma had awoken to the sight of Emiko and Lina sleeping on either side of him, their heads resting against his pectorial muscles and arms. Since Ranma had a tendancy to sleeping on his back, his arms out stretched from his body, the girls were using them and his chest as their pillow. They were snuggled very close to him, their bodies pressed firmly against his. Lina stirred slightly, muttering in her sleep before falling back asleep, "Warm. I ain't g-getting' up,"  
"Lemme alone," Emiko said sleepily, cuddling even closer to Ranma, much to his discomfort.  
"Hey, wake up," he said a bit louder. He couldn't understand how this had happened. No one was ever able to get close to him while he slept. There was this everlasting subconsious aura of awareness surrounding him, yet he never woke up when they had gotten in close to him, let alone actually sleep against him.  
But then again, perhaps that aura surrounding him did the job differently. Since the presence entering his personal space seemed to show how aggression or hostility or malice toward him, then perhaps why his inner alarm never sounded for him to awaken. "But then again, Ryoga once tried to kill me in my sleep," he said to himself, "So I guess that theory's out the window,"  
The girls finally awokened to the sound of Ranma's voice.  
It only took them a split second to realize that that pervert Ranma had took it upon himself to snuggle up against them while they were defenseless in their sleep. They both came to the exact same conclusion at the exact same time and reacted accordingly.  
"Pervert!"  
Ranma grinded his teeth, "How many times do I hafta tell you? You're the one that snuggled against me!" He was walking backwards so that he was facing Emiko and Lina as they walked forward. On either cheek were these huge palm prints from the slaps the girls had given him a couple of hours ago. They had been arguing ever since.  
"You're lying," Lina said in a huff, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She refused to look at Ranma, not after that stunt he pulled on her that morning.  
"No I'm not! If ya want, we can go right back to the camp and I'll point out the rock I was using as a pillow when I woke up, which was the EXACT same rock as the one I was using when I fell asleep last night which was BEFORE you two took it upon yourself to use me as some kinda human pillow," he said in one breath. "I can't believe I'm going to marry someone as perverted as you," Emiko said, "I hope you done take it upon yourself to sneak into another woman's bed after we're married,"  
"Quit insistin' that we're getting married!" he said, wanting to pull his hair out, "Geez, cantcha get it through yer head that it's just a stupid law?" He stopped in the middle of the road, both girls almost bumping into Ranma's front. "Why'd you stop?" Lina asked.  
Ranma looked as if he was listening intently for something. When she repeated the question, he said, "There's someone following us,"  
Emiko immediately took a defensive stance, gazing all around her, her dagger at the ready. When Ranma opened his mouth to ask something, she quickly, and rather coldly, said, "The dagger was hidden in my outfit!"  
He smiled at her.  
"Are you sure?" Lina asked skeptically. She wasn't in a defensive posture like Emiko, but she was more aware of her surrounding now. She was a bit passive but ready to react if something did happen.  
"I don't sense anything," Emiko commented. She was able to sense threats well before it could get in close on her for a preemptive attack.  
Ranma nodded, "There's definitely someone or something behind us. I dunno if it's following us or not and I dunno what it is either,"  
Neither of the girls liked the sound of it. Ranma seemed to convey a definite superior sense of awareness over both of them that they were pretty sure that if they tried hard enough, they would also notice something that he seemed to be able to do quite naturally.  
After a tense moment, Ranma shrugged his shoulders and turned around, "Oh well, whatever it is, I guess we'll worry about it when it bothers to show its ugly head,"  
Lina's eyes narrowed, "Are you saying that you're not at all bothered by the thought that someone or something is following us?"  
"Not really,"  
Emiko shook her head and said in a silent voice, "I wouldn't mind having your confidence,"  
"What was that?" he asked.  
"Oh nothing,"  
Ranma pointed behind the two girls, "Something's behind us, probably about five or so miles,"  
"Five or so m-mile?" Lina's eyes bulged, "You're kidding me, right?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"How the heck can you tell if there's something that far behind us?" Emiko jumped in and asked. She, like Lina, could perhaps only sense something about ten or so meters away.  
"Well, perhaps it isn't followin' us, but it seems to be heading toward our location," he commented. He turned around, "Well, are you two coming along?"  
Lina and Emiko looked at each other before they quickly followed after Ranma.

Ranma pointed up toward the sky, "Well look at that, it seems I was right,"  
Lina and Emiko paused to look up at the sky where they caught sight of a black object floating in the sky, almost obscurred by the glare of the setting sun.  
"What is that?" he asked innocently.  
"T-that's a grey dragon!" Lina said. There was a edginess to her voice.  
Emiko gulped, "A g-grey dragon? Oh man, we better get away from here, and away from the open,"  
"You sensed that thing from that far away?" Lina looked at Ranma skeptically.  
Ranma shook his head, "No, not from _that_ far away. It must've went the opposite direction of where we were headed. Also, what's a grey dragon?" Lina looked at Ranma, "Are you stupid? Dontcha know what a grey dragon is?"  
He shook his head, "No. And for your information, I'm not from this world or might you have forgotten?"  
"A grey dragon is considered one of the most aggressive kind of dragon," Lina said, "Just like how a blue dragon is known for its gentle nature, a green for its curiosity, and a black for aggressiveness, a grey is far worse than a black. A black would attack only if provoked while a grey one is usually the one to attack simply because it's in its nature to attack any living thing it sees,"  
"That's why it's best that we find a place to hide and wait for it to go away," Emiko added, "It's pretty far away, but if it sees us, it'll attack us,"  
"All right, let's go find a cave then," he said.  
Lina and Emiko eagerly agreed.  
Before Ranma was about to deviate from the dirt trail to search for a hidding spot, he noticed the grey dragon shooting fireballs toward the ground in the far off distance, "What's it doing? It looks like it's attacking something?"  
"Oh man, that's probably that hot spring we were at back there," Emiko said.  
"What? It is? Then we hafta go back!" Ranma quickly said.  
"What?" Lina shouted, "Are you kidding me? Hey, I've fought dragons before, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna go looking for a fight with a dragon, let alone a grey one!"  
"Me neither," the young ninja said.  
Ranma said, "Fine. You can do whatcha like. I'm gonna go back and help,"  
"W-what? But it's gotta at least thirty or so miles away,"  
"So?" he said.  
"I don't care how fast you can run, but there's no way you're gonna make it there in time," Lina said, "I can use my Ray Wing spell to fly there, and even that will take me at least twenty minutes at full speed. You're not going to get there in time,"  
"Wanna make a bet? And what makes you think I'm gonna be running?" he smirked, "You two, do whatever you like. I'm going back to help. I'll probably be back here sometime around midnight if I can get the situation fixed quickly,"  
"What are you going to do?" Emiko asked.  
"This,"  
Ranma closed his eyes and began glowing. A moment later, these huge pair of wings shot out from his back. Each wing was at least twice as long in length as Ranma was tall. "W-what the?" Lina and Emiko both gasped. "Hey, I don't like using my wings because it ruins my shirt," Ranma commented. He made his wings flap a few times, to get himself familiar again with using wings again. He hadn't use them in a while. However, using them was like riding a bike, once he had learned it, he was never going to forget.  
"W-what? What kind of logic is that?" Lina shouted.  
Ranma's wings flapped twice, generating enough thrust to send him skywards, Emiko and Lina forced to cover their eyes from the dust and dirt being blown about from the turbulent winds created. When Ranma was high enough that the dirt wasn't being disturbed by his every wingflap, he said, "You guys can wait here. I'll be right back,"  
Just as he was about to take off, Emiko called out, "Wait,"  
"What is it?"  
"Take me with you. Um, I'd like to help," she said.  
"Fine," he said. He swooped down low and picked Emiko up in his arm. The young girl yelped in surprise when she found herself being picked up and lifted high into the sky.  
"Ray wing!" Lina casted her flight spell. A moment later, she levitated into the air, hovering slowly up to where Ranma hovered.  
"You're coming along also?" he asked.  
"Well, I might as well," Lina lied, "I guess there's no harm. The three of us will probably be a much better team than just you and Emiko. Besides, it's not like Emiko's gonna be of any help,"  
"What did you say?" Emiko sneered. "There's no time to argue," he reprimanded her. He turned toward Lina, "All right, Lina, we'll meetcha there,"  
Before Lina had a chance to say anything else, Ranma took off at supersonic speeds toward the hot spring. All Lina could see was what looked like a red comet zipping away from her. Although at that speed, a person exposed to such turbulance from the winds zipping by would get ripped to shreds and simply suffocate from lack of air, a protective AT field seemed to form around the two of them and create a pocket of air for them to breath at such speeds.  
Muttering at her lack of speed, Lina flew after Ranma in only a fraction of the speed.

Ranma, Emiko in his arm, arrived at the front of the hot spring business in around two minutes. He hovered down to the ground far below and safely put Emiko down on her feet.  
Emiko was in a state of shock as she stood there in front of Ranma. She couldn't believe how fast she had just travelled. The sight of all those trees zipping by her so quickly was more than enough to scare the hell out of her. "You okay?" he asked.  
"I-I think s-so," she lied.  
"That's good to hear," he smiled. He turned his gaze toward the entrance when it was nearly destroyed. It seemed like a bomb had blown it to shreds. And high in the sky, the grey dragon was circling the area, shooting down fireballs toward the building. It seems that the dragon hadn't seen Ranma and Emiko yet.  
"This is bad. This is really really bad," Ranma commented. He couldn't believe how much damage could have been done by a single creature in such a short period of time. He turned toward Emiko, "Go on inside the building and find whatever survivors and round 'em up. I'll keep the dragon distracted,"  
"W-what? Y-you're going to go after the dragon on your own?"  
Ranma wasn't around to hear those questions because he had already taken to the skies and after the hovering dragon. He hovered right up to the dragon's eye. Although he had fought dragons before, this dragon was indeed very frighting. Its eye was roughly as large as Ranma. Its claws looked razon sharp, perhaps even sharp enough to possibly tear through his AT field.  
Without batting an eye, the dragon open its mouth and tried to close it on Ranma, as if trying to eat him whole. Ranma luckily managed to hover back and away to safety just in time.  
"Oh yeah?" he sneered. He quickly darted forward and punched the dragon right in its nose. The force of his punch was so intense that it caused the dragon's head to turn to the side, the dragon flying bodily backwards a good five or so meters before it righted itself. Although Ranma hit hard, there was no way he could he so hard that it could cause hundred thousand ton dragon to get pushed back.  
The dragon glared back at Ranma, now annoyed. It had barely felt Ranma's punch, but was angry for even having been bugged by such an insignificant life in its existence.  
The dragon opened its mouth and shot a massive fireball right at Ranma. Although Ranma was agile enough to dodge fireballs, this fireball had been so large that there was no way he could hover toward the side in time.  
Knowing that he wasn't going to dodge the projectile, Ranma simply brought both hands in front of him, palms forward, summoning his AT field. A red barrier form in front on him, taking the full force of the projectile but not even shuddering from such an impact. All that could be seen a slight ripple like a ripple in a pond, leaving Ranma unscathed.  
Ranma brought down the AT field and darted forward. He punched the dragon again. However, this time, that punch was different. This time, he punched the dragon _really_ hard.  
The force of Ranma's punch was devestatingly powerful that the dragon ended up getting sent backwards about a dozen yards. However, it glared back, now angry. The attacks seemed to have little or no effect, succeeding in only angering it.  
"Oh shit!" Ranma said as he saw the dragon's mouth open again.  
Once again, Ranma had to summon his AT field to protect himself. This time, though, when he brough the field down, he was already breathing quite heavily. Calling forth that impenatrable AT field of his took a lot of energy, energy that he was running out of.  
All Ranma wanted to do was deter the dragon from continuing its attack on the hot spring. He had no intention of killing it. Besides, the dragon was a living creature, and Ranma refused to kill any living creature unless it was the absolute last resort.  
He quickly flew backwards, the dragon following after him. He felt a bit of relief at the realization that the dragon had now abandonned its quest to destroying property and onto himself.  
"Good dragon, follow me," he smiled, darting away from the hot spring as possible, in the same general direction as the incoming Lina. He was forced to sway to and fro in attempt to dodge most of the incoming fireballs. One several cases, Ranma had to turn around to summon and AT field to deflect the fireball. It was amazing how well the dragon's aim was, even if it were shooting at a moving target.  
In the far off distance, Lina could see the dragon becoming larger and larger as it and Ranma came in her direction. She immediately noticed that the dragon was chasing Ranma.  
"Serves ya right. It's best to leave well enough alone," Lina said, hovering in place as Ranma dart quickly past her, the massive dragon also zooming by. The wind drag from such a massive object passing by her forced Lina to concenerate on staying stationary.  
For a short moment, Lina contemplated whether or not to follow after Ranma or continue on toward the hot spring. Figuring that Ranma could handle himself, she chose the latter.  
Arriving at the devestated hot spring business, Lina shook her head in sympathy, "There's gonna be no way anyone will be able to salvage the business, not with all that damage," Shrugging her shoulders, she grinned, "Well, since there's nothing I could really do, I might as well try and do as much looting as I can before anyone notices,"  
She didn't manage to grab anything for she spotted a whole group for people gathered in one shadowed corner of what remained of the building. Nearby, Emiko was rounding the hapless people together.  
"What's going on?" Lina asked.  
Emiko didn't bother to turn her attention toward Lina but said, "I'm gathering the people up. Ranma wanted me to do so, so no one ends up running outside where that dragon could spot them," "If you think about it," Lina smirked, jerking a thumb toward the group, "If the dragon had decided to step on this section of the building, everyone would be killed sinc they're all together," Emiko's face grew sullen, "Now that you think about it..."  
"There's nothing much to worry about," Lina added, "Ranma managed to somehow get the dragon to follow after him,"  
"Is he all right?"  
"Do I look like I really care?" Lina replied smartly, still annoyed from him having stolen her clothes.  
Without saying another word, Emiko quickly ran out of the building, leaving the people in Lina's care. "Hey, what the heck are you going?" she managed to say before Emiko disappeared out the door.  
Once outside, Emiko lept toward the trees, jumping from branch to brach a dozen times before she made it to the very top. She glanced outward toward the horizon where she could see a faint image of Ranma and the massive dragon, which was still intent on shooting fireballs at him.  
Lina nearly scared the hell out of Emiko when she hovered up and right next to her and said, "He'll be fine...not that I care or nothing," the young sorceress commented.  
The two of them watched as Ranma seemed to hover in place, dodging the projectile.  
"I hafta admit," Lina said after a moment, "Ranma's definitely agile. I hafta give him that,"  
Emiko glared, "Well, don't you go getting any ideas. He's mine,"  
A blush coming to her cheeks, Lina shouted, "W-what? W-what the heck m-makes you think I would be interested in R-Ranma?"  
Emiko continued to watch the fight as it ensued several miles away from their location, all the while ignoring Lina as she zealously commented on Ranma being the last person on the planet she would be interested in.  
Ranma was started in to get very very angry. He had no idea what to do. A single ki-blast could easily end this dragon's life...at least he assumed so. However, he didn't want to do that. All he had wanted to was get the dragon away from the hot spring, which he did, but this dragon seemed to be very persistent in killing him.  
"Hm, maybe I should just knock it out," Ranma wondered aloud, dodging yet another projectile.  
"You put up a good fight," the grey dragon spoke, its voice low and very course. After a good twenty minutes of trying to fry Ranma, it had come to realize that Ranma didn't want to be fried.  
Ranma hovered in place, eyes and jaw wide open, "Y-you can t-talk?"  
The dragon nodded, "Yes. We can all talk, should we choose to allow you to hear us,"  
"If you can talk, then perhaps you can tell me why you were trying to destroy that business back there, huh?" he bothered to ask. At the moment, everything seemed surreal. Sure, he had seen quite a bit over his lifetime, but it was very demanding on the mind at the thought of talking to a dragon, a dragon that was probably as large as a city block.  
The dragon took a moment before it decided to answer, "I enjoy doing property damage,"  
"H-huh?"  
"I like doing property damage," it said, grinning, its teeth showing.  
"P-property d-damage? W-weren't you trying to kill those people back there?" he asked.  
"No. I refuse to kill living things," the dragon said, "I only do property damage,"  
Ranma started to laugh like a maniac, "Oh, this is really great! This is just dandy!" He looked up at the skies, "A girl that can blow up the world if angered enough? A girl that will kill herself if I don't marry her? And now, a dragon that has a conscious so it only does property damage! What kinda world is this? Whoever you are up there, are you having fun? Are you up there laughin' at the constant shock that's always on my face?"  
"You seem troubled," the dragon commented.  
"You think?" he replied sarcastically, "Hey, I just realized something, if you don't kill living things, then why were you trying to kill me?"  
"Oh, you mean my fireballs? I don't kill living things, but I have no objections with knocking them into unconsciousness,"  
Ranma started to develop a headache, "Why do I even bother askin'?"  
There was a brief moment of awkward silence as the dragon and Ranma hovered in place. Ranma noticed the dragon staring at him.  
"What? Are you expectin' me to try and strike up some kinda conversation or somethin'?" he commented, "I'm still in shock from finding out you can talk,"  
"No, I'm expecting an apology,"  
"W-w-w-what?" Ranma's eyes widened even more, "A-an a-a-apology?"  
"You attacked me first," it said.  
"Yeah, because you were attacking those people down by the hot spring!" he said.  
The dragon responded with, "I wasn't attacking those people. I was only doing property damage,"  
"That's besides the point," he said, "Waitaminute! What the hell am I doing? I'm arguing with a dragon..." He took several very deep breaths. This was a different world afterall. Once calm, his mind now clear, Ranma said in a soft voice, "All right. I'm sorry for attacking you. It's just that I was trying to protect those people back there,"  
The dragon took a moment before saying, "Fine, apology accepted. However, you shouldn't muttle in one's business unless you know both sides of the story,"  
"Fine, humor me," he said, "Why were you attacking that hot spring place? And I hope it's a good one,"  
"I used to use that spring to relax after a hard day of work,"  
"Y-y-you work?" he asked. Once again, he was shocked. One of his eyes started to twitch.  
"Forget about it," the dragon said, "Anyway, ever since that business came up over that hot spring, I haven't been able to relax and I've been feeling really edgy. I left messages to the owner that he would regret putting up a business over my personal hot spring, but he didn't listen,"  
"You're huge!" Ranma said, "And just how do you use that spring when that spring is only a fraction of your size?"  
"It used to be a lot larger,"  
Ranma said, "So what? Even if you did drive that person away, you wouldn't be able to use it,"  
"It's a matter of principle,"  
"Oh man, please let it not have said what I think it just said," Ranma said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Look, can't you leave them alone?"  
"For your information, the owner deserves it," it said, "He's cruel to little animals,"  
Ranma's head twitched slightly, "Y-you're d-doing all of this because t-the owner is cruel to a-animals?"  
"That's one of the reasons," it replied, "But him having put up a business over a spring where there shouldn't be a business is the main reason,"  
Ranma sighed. He took several more deep breaths, calming himself down. After a moment, he shrugged his shoulders, "Forget it,"  
"Forget what?"  
He smiled slightly, "I guess it was my fault for butting into your business anyway. I'm going to leave now. This is between you and the owner. However, can you do me one favor and at least do this when I'm out of sight of the place? You know the saying, 'Out of sight, out of mind',"  
"I'll do that,"  
He turned around and started flying away, "Well, goodbye,"  
"Wait," the dragon said.  
"Hm?" he turned back around.  
"What is your name?"  
"Ranma Saotome," Ranma said. He didn't really care if the dragon knew his name or not, "What's yours?"  
"My real name's unpronounceable in the human language," the dragon said, "However, you can call me Miyuki,"  
"M-Miyuki?" he said. Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Well, Miyuki, I guess it's best that I go now. It was, um, very interesting meeting you. Goodbye,"  
"Farewell,"  
Ranma and the dragon went their separate ways, Ranma heading back toward the hot spring to collect Emiko and Lina while the dragon in the opposite direction, disappearing over the mountain range.

"Explain," Lina said, hands on her hips as Ranma hovered down in front of her. Everyone was gathered in front of what remained of the hot spring business.  
Ranma glared at Lina, "What are you, my mother?"  
Lina was a bit taken aback at the sudden look Ranma was giving her. Sure, it had sounded like she was demanding him to explain himself, but it wasn't meant to be like that. "I was merely curious," she managed to say.  
Ranma cleared his throat, "Well, the dragon's gonna leave this place alone for a short while. She told me so,"  
"Told you so?" Emiko looked at Ranma curiously.  
Ranma nodded and said, "Uh huh. It seems she was attacking this place for reasons I don't wanna get into. Anyway, what's done is done. Everyone's fine, so I guess we better get going,"  
"Just like that?" Lina's eyes widened, "We're going to simply leave?"  
"Why you having grabbed whatcha wanted yet?" he smirked, "Didn't feel you had enough time to loot for things that seemed valuable?"  
"I was not looting!" the young girl flushed crimson. How the heck could Ranma know her so well? "For you information, um, I was merely surprised you would just up and leave so suddenly,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Although I would like to help, there's nothing much I can do. Besides, the dragon'll leave this place alone for a while,"

Scene needed for Ranma to explain wings

Ranma walked into the store. The store was replete with camping equipment, ranging from tents to sleeping bags to backpacks and such.  
"Hm, considering this is a totally different world, it seems it's not all that different from my own," Ranma commented. He gazed down at one of the backpacks that was on one of the shelves. Lina happened to be standing in front of him.  
"That looks like a good backpack," he said, reaching forward and grabbing hold of the item. Since Lina was in front of him, his chest ended up brushing against her back as he reached over one of her shoulders, his warm breath felt against the top of her head.  
Lina quickly tured around, slightly flushed, "Y-you're doing that on purpose!" She was sure of it. Ranma was purposing brushing himself against her to get a rise out of her. Sure, she wasn't used to physical contact, especially from a male, but it was damn rude of him to take advantage of that and create the awkward situation.  
Ranma looked at the young girl curiously, "Doin' what?"  
"Hmph! Forget it!" she spat before quickly walking off down the isle.  
Ranma turned toward Emiko, whom was walking down the isle, "I still don't understand, why're we here?"  
"C'mon, it's gonna rain real soon," Ranma replied, turning to face her, backpack in hand, "I figure that we should be prepared for when it does. That's why I'm lookin' around for a tent. The backpack here's gonna be used to help carry it,"  
"Oh,"  
"You better go look for one also," he added.  
"Why?" Ranma shrugged his shoulder, "Fine, don't. You're gonna regret it when it does rain and you're shivering from the cold. I'm getting a tent for myself and ONLY myself. I'm not gonna share a tent with the two of you because god knows what could happen,"  
"A-and just want do you mean by that?" Emiko glared at Ranma.  
Ranma glared back defiantly, "Y'know what,"  
He turned his back toward Emiko and walked down the isle toward there the sleeping bags were strewn out on display, hung on hooks. He glanced through a few of them before he came across one that looked perfect for him.  
"Good, now all I need's a good tent," he said to himself.  
Emiko not really knowing what to do, followed closely behind him. When he stopped suddenly and Emiko bumped into him, Ranma turned to face her, "Whatcha waitin' for? Go look for a tent, a backpack, and a sleepin' bag,"  
"And just how do you expect us to pay for all of this?" Emiko asked curiously, noticing expensive pricetag on Ranma's sleeping bag.  
"I have money," he replied softly, walking down the isle some more, "Don't worry about it. I still have some left over from a while back,"  
Lina came walking back down the isle. She was carrying a decently large backpack. Although she liked to rough it and sleep out under the stars, Ranma did have a point in recommending in getting some camping equipment.  
"Well, I've found my own backpack. All I have left is to find a tent and sleepin' bag," she said. As she was about to walk past Ranma toward the other end of the isle, where the sleeping bags were, she noticed that the equipment Ranma was carrying was blocking her.  
"Move," she said.  
Ranma's eyes narrowed. He crossed his arms over his chest, the backpack slung over one shoulder and a sleeping back in one hand. His feet spread slightly further apart, as if he were planting his feet wider apart for more stability.  
The muscles in Lina's jaw tightened.  
Emiko smirked, this happy feeling enveloping her. She liked seeing Lina angry, and seeing Ranma doing that to her was quite the sight. She found that very admirable about Ranma, that he didn't take crap from anyone. Fine, she thought to herself, so maybe Ranma's isn't all THAT bad a person...  
Lina stood her ground. She crossed her arms over her chest.  
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she said, doubting this approach could possibly work.  
"I'll move if you say the magic word,"  
"Move now," she said.  
Ranma shook his head, "Nope. That ain't it,"

Small scene needed where Lina finally gives up

Ranma looked up at the sky and noticed the darkening clouds gathering high above. The winds were becoming more and more turbulent.  
"It's going to rain," "How observant," Lina said wryly. She had already placed the heavy backpack on the ground, rubbing her aching shoulders. Although the equipment she was carrying was perhaps no more than twenty pounds combined, it felt like a ton. She couldn't help but wonder how Ranma could carry three times that weight without any form of trouble. Ranma placed his backpack on the ground, Emiko doing the same also.  
"We should stop here," he said, already beginning to unpack. The girls watched for only about a minute as he pitched his tent. Within no time, the tent had been set. He then turned to face the two girls.  
"Well, what're ya waitin' for? You better pitch yer tents up real fast because the storm's gonna be here in about ten minutes," he said.  
Lina, knowing that this was true, proceeded to set up her own tent, only a fraction as efficient in pitching a tent as Ranma. However, after about five minutes, the tent had been set up. She turned toward Ranma to smile at him defiantly. She knew Ranma was waiting for her to fumble and eventually be forced to ask for his help. Emiko had her own set up at roughly the same time, the two of them finishing at the same time just as they threw their backpack and sleeping bag into their respective tents. Little did Ranma know that Lina and Emiko seemed to race against each other on who would get theirs set up first. It started to drizzle slightly.  
Just as Ranma was about to enter his tent, a extremely strong gust of wind blew by. Lo and behold, two of the tents get swept away. The girls watched in shock as both of their tents blew up toward the stratosphere.  
Ranma had this somber look on his face, "You've gotta be kiddin' me!" He gave a chuckle, "Gee, how come this doesn't surprise me?"  
"H-how in the world could it have been blown away?" Lina said, slightly embarrassed. She distinctly recalled having placed in the spike that would anchor the tent in place, to keep it from being blown away just like what had just happened.  
"Did you two place in the spikes?" he asked.  
"Yeah!" both girls said in unison. Emiko had definite done the same also.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Oh well. It'd suck to be you two," He entered his tent, "Goodnight,"  
"Wait! Y-you're not going to leave us out here, a-are you?" Emiko asked.  
Ranma sighed, "No. No, I'm not,"  
He opened the front of his tent for both Lina and Emiko to enter. They looked at each other before they swallowed their pride and entered the tent. Inside, the tent was a bit cramped but they realized it worked perfectly in stopping the torent winds. Ranma entered the tent just as it started to pour. He zipped up the entrance, making the two girls all too aware of just how confined the tent had suddenly become.  
They were forced to scoot over toward one side of the tent to allow Ranma to fold out his sleeping bag. Once the sleeping bag was laid out, Ranma quickly climbed in. He regarded the girls, showing signs of impatience, "Well?"  
"Well what?" Lina was the first to ask.  
"Are you two getting in or not?"  
"W-what?" both girls shouted, "Y-you want us to s-share the same sleeping bag with you?"  
Ranma narrowed his eyes, "I'm being nice. I'm sharing my sleeping bag. Luckily, it's just large enough that the three of us will fit. And before you decline, I hope you two realize just how cold the ground is without some form of insulation under ya,"  
Both girls had been very intent on declining until the thought about it for a moment. They sat there, silent.  
"I'm offerin' to share my sleeping bag," he said, "Take it or leave it,"  
After a good five minute, both girls reluctantly accepted his offer. They both climbed into the sleeping bag, Ranma between the both of them. The sleeping bag, although fairly large, was a bit snug since it wasn't meant for three people. Luckily, Emiko and Lina were pretty petite. It was Ranma's large stature that made it so.  
Ranma closed his eyes, "If you girls do anything funny while I'm asleep, I'm kicking you outta my tent,"  
"H-hey, w-we're supposed to be the ones to say that!" Lina realized.

Emiko and Lina both stepped out of the tent just in time to see Ranma's back as he stood in front of a nearby tree and relieved himself.  
"That's disgusting!" Emiko cringed.  
Ranma smirked as he walked toward the tent, "I don't think so. This is one of the advantages to being a guy. I can just whip it out and do my business whenever I please,"  
"Oh, not that argument again," Lina rolled her eyes. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Strangely enough, although it had taken her, and Emiko as well most likely, several hours before they finally fell asleep, she felt strangely refreshed, like she had had one of the best sleep ever.  
Emiko's eyes narrowed as she noticed something on Ranma's neck, "What's that?"  
"Huh? What?" he asked, rubbing his neck. He felt nothing.  
Lina and Emiko walked up to Ranma and took a closer look. "There's a red spot on your neck, where blood vessels seemed to have been ruptured," Emiko commented. She nor Lina had never seen a wound like that before. It looked like a painful wound yet not. Whatever the cause, they were sure it hadn't been there last night.  
"A r-red spot?" Ranma's eyes widened, "Y-you've gotta be kiddin' me,"  
"What? What's wrong?" Lina asked.  
Ranma glared at the girls, "All right, which one of you girls gave me the hickey?"  
"A hickey? What's that?" they asked together.  
Ranma told about how it usually resulted from someone sucking on his neck, something that usually happened in a fit of passion and lust.  
"I didn't do that!" both girls denied in unison, this horrible horrible shade of red evident on their faces. "Maybe you did it yourself," Lina commented.  
"Do I look like I can do this to myself?" Ranma said, "All right, which one of you did it?"  
"Not me," Lina said.  
"Nor I," Emiko added.  
"Well, one of you must've," he said, "It's not like something like this appears outta nowhere,"

Lina was angry at Ranma.  
"Boy, you seem more hormonally homicidal today,"  
"W-w-what?"  
"Because if you are, I'll just keep my mouth shut,"

Damn, this is getting ridiculous. It's missing as many transition scenes as Just Won't Die 6

Lina and Emiko and Ranma were walking down the dirt path, the two girls arguing with Ranma on the benefits of being female while he did the same toward being male. It was an argument that should had been concluded a long time ago, but Ranma seemed to always bring it up.  
They stopped when they saw a figure standing in their path. Because of the sunlight, all they were able to do was see a silohuetted of the person.  
Lina froze in mid-step when an all-too-familiar laugh could be heard emanating from the figure standing before them.  
"Oh no," she muttered.  
"What's wrong?" Ranma asked, noticing the pale faced Lina. He turned his attention toward the person standing in front of them. It didn't take a split second for Ranma to notice that the figure belonged to a female, a well proportioned female. The female had shoulder-length purple hair and sported a cape that flowed down to the ankles of her knee high boots. She had a long sword strapped to her waist, which was barely concealed by her bikini-like thong. "Owahahahaha," the woman laughed, "Well if it isn't my arch rival, Lina Inverse,"  
"What do you want, Naga?" Lina muttered, her eyes shooting daggers toward the busty sorceress.  
Naga continued to laugh that laugh of hers as she approached the group, "It's been quite a while,"  
"Not long enough," Lina commented. "Hm, and to think that over the period of time since we have last seen each other, you would had developed a chest by then," Naga pointed out, regarding Lina's front.  
Lina blushed an extreme shade of red, well aware of Ranma's presense. The comment, had caused his attention to move from Naga and onto Lina, especially her breasts. She covered her chest, "What the hell are you lookin' at, Ranma?"  
Ranma gave a meek smile before turning his attention way from her and back onto Naga. He regarded her for a good minute, Naga not at all self-conscious of his gaze, as she stood there, hands on hips.  
"It's obvious that he is captivated by my beauty," Naga commented toward Lina.  
That laugh of hers kinda reminds me a lot of Kodachi, Ranma thought, continuing to regard her intently. Of course, they don't look a like one bit. This woman is much..um..larger than Kodachi, that's for sure. When Ranma's eyes seemed to linger on Naga's breast a bit longer than usual, Naga found herself slowly becoming a bit self-consious. She cleared her throat to get Ranma's attention, figuring she might as well owe it to herself to stike up a conversation, "I am Naga the Serpent, Lina Inverse's beautiful, far superior rival,"  
"What did you say?" Lina shouted, her teeth bearing. She hadn't seen Naga for close to a year since they last departed, yet within a minute of seeing her again, Naga was already getting on her nerves.  
"Quit looking at those!" Emiko whispered fiercely as she kicked Ranma in the back of his leg.  
Ranma finally turned his attention away from Naga and onto Emiko, "Hey, whatcha do that for?"  
"You know why," her eyes narrowed, "You're not supposed to be looking at other people,"  
Ranma smirked, "Sure, like I'm ever gonna listen to ya, lil miss ninja,"  
"Quit calling me that," she found herself about to slap him but stopped, knowing it was useless since it would never connect. And even if it did, it wouldn't even sting, let alone hurt.  
Ranma turned his attention toward Naga and noticed that she was in some kind of spell-casting stance, her hand cupped by one side of her waist as sparks seemed to be shooting from the space between her fingertips.  
Lina was also doing the same, "I'll just show you how much powerful I've gotten. I've been wanting to do this for a long long time,"  
"Hahahaha, do you think those words will actually scare someone as powerful as myself? You'll be the first to observe first hand my awesome power," Naga smirked.  
"Do something," Emiko nudged at Ranma.  
Ranma shook his head, "Uh uh. I ain't gonna bother. Knowing my luck, I'm gonna end up steppin' in the middle of the both of `em just as they throw out those fireball thingies of theirs. I'll just wait until after they tire `emselves out before doin' anything,"  
"Flame Arrow!" Lina released her spell.  
"Freeze Arrow!" Naga released her own spell at the exact same time.  
Both projectiles came at each other and cancelled each other out in a massive explosion. Ranma was about to step in to stop the fighting but the two sorceresses immediately began shooting other spells, all of them seemingly cancelling one another out. After a good minute, they were breathing heavily.  
"Hm, they seem evenly matched," Ranma commented to Emiko. They were sitting on a nearby log. If Ranma had popcorn, he would be eating it right now because the scene playing out before him looked like one straight from a movie.  
"Forget it. Enough with going easy on ya," Lina snapped, "Time to do some damage,"  
She closed her eyes and slowly began to call forth her spell, "Darkness from twilight, crimson from blood that flows, buried in the flow of time.."  
Naga, immediately realizing that Lina was about to cast her draon slave spell, began to chant her own spell, "Darkness from twilight, crimson from blood that flows, buried in the flow of time.."  
"Hm, they seem to be tryin' to cast the same spell," Ranma commented.  
"Um, although I don't know much about magic, I know for sure that that's the beginning chant for a Dragon Slave," Emiko said, a lump in her throat. She couldn't believe that someone would even consider casting a spell like that.  
"A Dragon Slave? They're gonna cast that?" he said, "Hm, that's strange, I remember Lina casting one but not chanting whatever she's chanting now,"  
"I think that if you chant the words, the spell's far more powerful," Emiko responded, "You better do something, I have no idea how long it takes to cast that spell,"  
".In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness. Those who oppose us." both girls chanted in unison.  
Ranma, having remembered being hit with a dragon slave before, wanted nothing to do with it. Although he would had probably let Lina and this Naga person cast it, the thought of him and Emiko getting caught in the blast didn't sit all that well with him.  
He quickly got off his feet and ran up to Lina, "Yo, don't even think about it,"  
"Think again. Don't even think about stopping my spell," Lina stopped her chant to say. She immediately went back to her spellcasting, "..shall be destroyed by the power you and I posses. Dragon Sla."  
Ranma reached out and grabbed one of Lina's breasts. He did the same with Naga, using his other free hand to grab one of her breasts, knowing full well that with any female, they would immediately stop what they were doing in order to slap a man. It was the law of the universe. He might as well take advantage of it.  
Naga and Lina immediately stopped what they were doing. They opened their eyes to see what person dared to grab their breasts. Their gaze came upon Ranma as he stood between the two of them, one hand on one of their breats, a red handprint on his face from Emiko's slap. The moment his hand hand touch their breasts, Emiko had slapped Ranma, hard.  
Without having to think about it, Lina and Naga's hands instinctively shot out and slapped Ranma across his cheeks. They didn't stop at just one slap. They slapped him a dozen or so time, something very remiscient to Ranma of how Ukyo and Shampoo and Akane used to slap him.  
Ranma rubbed his cheeks, "That hurt, y'know,"  
"It's supposed to," Lina snapped, "What the hell didja go and do that for?"  
"I was tryin' to stop you two from doing that dragon slave spell," he said. When he pulled his hand away from his cheek, the palm prints were gone. It looked like he had never been slapped.  
"I guess you should consider yourself lucky that he distracted me," Naga said, "Otherwise, had I casted that spell..."  
She turned her gaze toward Ranma, her eyes narrowing, "You, on the other hand, I can not forgive for groping me like that. Never in my life had anyone ever been grabbed like that,"  
"Hey, I wasn't doin' it because I wanted to or nothing," he replied back.  
"How dare you!" she snapped, an aura of malice toward Ranma forming around her.  
Ranma held his hand in front of him and took a step back, "Um, I said that wrong,"  
"So you grabbed her because you wanted to?" Emiko sneered, taking a step toward Ranma.  
Ranma made a hand gesture as if her were shooing a fly away, "Go away, lil miss ninja, go mind yer own business,"  
"Why you!" Emiko's dagger came out of nowhere. Before she could do anything with it, Ranma reached out and grabbed it out of her hand, "I don't think so," When she pulled out another dagger, he pulled that one away. It wasn't until he pulled away four consecutive daggers before she found herself with no more.  
Ranma smirked, "So four daggers is all that you can hide up in your y'know?"  
"I do not hide them there!" she shouted, attempting to slap him onto to have her hand intercepted. After a moment, he released her hand, only to find Emiko following through with her first attempt at slapping him and slapping him.  
Ranma sighed, "Fine. You slapped me. You done?"  
Emiko regarded Ranma, eyes still narrow, "Just don't let me catch you groping some other girl and I won't be slapping you,"  
He turned back toward Naga, "Look, I only did what I did because I didn't want the two of you casting that dragon slave spell of yours,"  
"Hmph, it's still unacceptable," Naga said in contempt, crossin her arms over her chest.  
"What would ya want me to do?" he asked sincerely.  
Naga seemed dumbfounded, unable to say anything. She hadn't been expecting him to say something like that. She could only manage to say, "There's nothing you can do. What's done is done. Just don't do it again, okay?"  
"Um, o-okay," Ranma's eyes widened a bit. This Naga person didn't seem to be all that bad. Afterall, she let Ranma off with a slap and a warning, something most girls would never do. They would hold grudges.  
Ranma rubbed the back of his head, "Um, well, now that we're no longer trying to kill each other, we should at least know what's going on,"  
"This is Naga," Lina introduced her, "She's my archrival,"  
"Archrival, huh?" Ranma said, "Well, it's nice to meetcha. I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome,"  
"Ranma Saotome?" Naga regarded the handsome man, "That's a strange name,"  
"So's Naga the Serpent," he retorted, smirking, hoping to lighten the situation, "Is `the' your middle name?"  
Lina burst out laughing. Emiko smirked.  
"Your attempt at being humorous is wasted," Naga said with an edge of iciness.  
There was some awkward silence, no one knowing what to say.  
Ranma broke that silence by saying, "Well, I guess we best be on our way,"  
"Good idea," Lina said, smiling all the while. She was happy at the realization that Naga would be unable to tag along like she usually did because they weren't looking for treasure.  
"Off to find some treasure?" Naga smirked, "Well, I won't stand idle and let you be the only one to claim that treasure,"  
Lina smirked, ready to lay it on the purple haired sorceress real think, "For your information, we're not on some silly treasure hunt so you can forget about tagging-"  
Ranma interrupted Lina and said, "We were headed west. We're lookin' for Lina's sister in hopes that she might me able to help me with a lil problem,"  
"Yeah, he can't get it up," Emiko jumped in, jumping at the chance to get back at Ranma for all his teasing.  
"What? No! That's not it!" he emphatically said. He glared at Emiko. He cleared his throat before saying, "Anyway, we were all headed west in hopes of findin' Lina's sister,"  
Naga said, "S-so you're not going treasure hunting?"  
Ranma shook his head.  
Lina smiled, wanted to jump up and down in joy. Naga won't be able to tag along this time around because she can't use that treasure hunting excuse like she always did. Lina said, "And since we're not treasure hunting, there's no reason for you to come along. Afterall, you only tag along because you believe I was treasure huntin' but since I'm no..."  
"Not unless you wanna come along," Ranma offered.  
"Erk! W-w-what? What are you saying, Ranma?" Lina quickly jumped in, "T-t-  
there's n-no reason for her to come a-along,"  
Ranma gave Lina a curious look, "What, you don't want her coming along? Why not? She seems like a nice person,"  
Lina fell over, twitching as she said, "N-n-nice.."  
Ranma turned toward Naga, whom had this sligh tinge in her cheeks, "Well, if you wanna come along, you're welcome to. We're not treasure huntin' or nothing though,"  
There was good minute before Naga said anything, "Well, now that I've found out that you're not looking for treasure, and most likely telling the truth since your words sound sincere, it seems there's no reason for me to come along,"  
Lina quickly got back up to her feet, estatic.  
"However-" Naga continued, missing the beautiful sight of blood draining from her archrival's face, "Since you asked me nicely, I see no problem in my accompanying you. It would be beneficial for both your guys and myself,"  
"Oh? How suppose that?" Lina asked sarcastically, "From what I see, nothing about having you coming along with us is beneficial,"  
Naga laughed, "Actually, it would benefit you far more having someone as powerful and beautiful as myself accompanying you. Who knows what adventures we could come across? With me along, you would be ready for anything that arise,"  
Lina fell over, twitching again. She quickly got back up, "Uh uh, you're not coming along! I refuse to have you tag along with me once again! This is where I draw the line! Countless time I allowed you to tag along, and countless time I regretted having done so! Well, I'm not as young and nave as I used to be!"  
"It doesn't matter anyway," Naga lauged once again, "Ranma here was the one that invited that I come along, not yourself. So what's done is done. I shall come along,"  
"Um, er," Ranma began to say. He had never realized how much Lina didn't want this Naga person to come along. Had he known, he would never had invited her. He had only been trying to be friendly, believing that if she was heading in the same direction as them, that having one extra person coming along would make the travel a bit more lively. "Waitaminute? Don't I have a say in this?" Emiko said.  
"Yeah? Don't she have a say in this?" Lina said, pointing toward Emiko. She wanted Emiko on her side, to comment on how Naga shouldn't come along. Afterall, with her and Lina against Naga coming along, their two votes would outweigh Ranma's single vote.  
Ranma turned towad Emiko, "Well, what do you say? It seems Lina doesn't want Naga comin' along," He figure the best way to get out of this situation was to have Emiko help him out. If she made it known that she didn't want Naga coming along, he would have to gracefully retract his offer, thus, keeping Lina happy. He owed it to her, what with him not having known of her dislike for Naga, whatever the reasons.  
Emiko smiled, "I think she should come along,"  
"What?" Lina's eyes widened.  
Emiko grinned.

Ranma walked down the road, Emiko by his side. Trailing slightly behind were an arguing Lina and Naga. They were both debating on who was the more powerful sorceress.  
"So tell me, why didja want Naga comin' along?" he asked from out of the blue. "This Naga person seems to have a knack for making Lina angry," Emiko replied, "And that's the kind of person I wouldn't mind coming along,"  
"Oh, I get it," he said, "You just want her coming along just so she could piss the hell outta Lina, huh?"  
Emiko nodded, smiling.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. He should had known that something like that was going to happen. He should never believe that he could understand the female mind and should never try to.  
At that moment, a loud explosion could be heard. Ranma and Emiko stopped to look behind them and noticed Naga and Lina at each other's throat. They were casting projectile after projectile at one another, all of them either dodged or cancelled out by another incoming projectile.  
Ranma sighed before turning back around, "I ain't gonna try and stop `em. Let `em fight. They'll eventually get too tried to fight,"  
"You might be right," Emiko commented, following Ranma's lead.  
She caught up to Ranma. As she walked by his side, figuring she should at least keep the conversation going, she said, "Um, so what do you plan to do once we get there?"  
"Get where?"  
"Get to that town where Lina's sister resides," she said, "A-are you really going home?"  
Ranma chuckled slightly, his laugh hearty, "Of course, silly. That's the whole reason why I'm heading there. Hopefully, she'll be able to help me,"  
"Um, so tell me, h-how's your world like?"  
He thought about it for a short moment, rubbing his chin before saying, "Well, it's very different from this,"  
"Oh?"  
"It's technologically superior to this," he commented, "I mean, from what I saw, this world seems to rely mostly on magic and such. Granted, it works, but on my world, technology replaces what magic would do on this world,"  
"Do you think I'll like it?" she asked meekly.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders.  
At that moment, a massive explosion erupted against Ranma's back, sending him flying bodily forward and into a nearby tree face-first. The force of impact caused the tree to become uprooted, tipping over and against another tree, where that tree, too, became uprooted and toppling over. Ranma hopped to his feet, rubbing his nose, "All right. Who did that?"  
Emiko smiled slightly. At first, she took several steps to rush up to Ranma to ask if he wase all right, catching herself after her distance to him closed in. This was Ranma afterall, why should she be worried about him, anyway, right?  
"What, no `Are you all right?'?" he smirked, rubbing his neck now.  
"Whatever for?" Emiko smirked, reverting back to her usual outward appearance toward him. She almost started laughing. It wasn't at Ranma's expense. No. Rather, it was on how Ranma could so easily brush off something that would otherwise seriously injure someone and make a joke about it.  
Ranma looked at Naga and Lina, "Well? Which one of you did it?"  
Naga and Lina pointed toward one another, "She did,"  
"Quit playin' innocent," he said impatiently, "One of you did it. Which one?"  
"Does it matter which one of us did it?" Lina smirked, "Even if it was unintentional on our behalf, you still deserved it,"  
"And just what's that supposed to mean?" he shot a wry glance back.  
"Get over it, it's not like it hurt you anyway," she waved a hand nonchalantly.  
"That's besides the point,"  
Naga regarded Ranma, "Is it true?"  
"Is what true?"  
"It didn't hurt?" she asked.  
Ranma nodded, "Yeah, it didn't hurt. Why?"  
Naga smiled slightly, "Well, I'm glad to hear that. That could be quite in handy,"  
"What are you scheming, Naga?" Lina sneered at her rival, "Why do you say something like that?"  
Naga turned toward Ranma, "Actually, I did it. I didn't mean it though,"  
Ranma's visage calmed down considerably. He was a bit surprised that he was able to find out who had indeed shot that projectile that had hit him. Although he wasn't really angry initially at either of them for having done that, he found it rather amusing that Naga actually came out and told the truth.  
"What are you up to?" Lina continued to glare at Naga, "You're too stupid to come up with a plan, so whatever you're trying to think up will probably lead to our demise,"  
"Surely you jest," Naga laughed, leaning forward, her face coming inches from Lina's, as she said, "I am merely coming forth and taking responsibility for my actions. Heh, unlike a certain underdeveloped person I know," Lina shouted "What did you say?" Ranma rushed forward, his hands extended forward in an attempt at prevently Lina from bumrushing the still laughing Naga, "Now now, there's no need to fight again. You two did enough damage already,"  
Unfortunately, his hands ended up pressing again Naga and Lina's breasts once again.  
"You're doing that on purpose!" Lina shouted, slapping Ranma.  
Naga, in a fit of anger, also slapped Ranma. Emiko, whom had watched the whole thing, also slapped Ranma.  
"Quit slappin' me!" he shouted, rubbing his right cheek. All three girls had slapped him on the exact same cheek, on the exact same spot. When he pulled his hand away, the red spot was gone.  
"How does he do that?" Emiko asked no one in particular. Her immediate anger toward Ranma disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. The amazing things Ranma could do seemed to constantly distracted her current train of thought.  
"How do you do that?" Lina couldn't help but ask. She had noticed him do that several times but had never asked about it. Curiosity instead of anger finally getting the better of her.  
"Are you skilled in white magic?" Naga asked, anger forgotten.  
Ranma shook his head, "No. I don't know no magic. Why?"  
"Well, it's just from my point of view, you look like you know how to use the recovery spell," Lina commented. When she noticed he was about to ask what it was, she continued on, "It's a healing spell that can basically heal any wounds you got. A higher form of that would be the resurrection spell,"  
Ranma's eyes widen, "R-resurrection? R-really?"  
"Yeah," Lina said, "Resurrection is basically the most powerful white magic spell that can be casted on an individual on this world. There is one more powerful, but it creates temorary immortality,"  
"Forget about immortality. Been there, done that, went on," he said, "Now back to this resurrection thing,"  
Lina held a hand up, "Now hold up, what the heck do you mean by `been there, done that, went on'?"  
Ranma let out an annoyed breath, "Let's just say I was immortal at one time,"  
"W-what?" all three girls said at once.  
Ranma sighed. He wondered how many times he would have to say thing. He said, "When I was young, I got cursed. Immortality was part of that curse. Eventually, I found a cure to my curse, and thus, I lost that immortality,"  
"You're lying," Lina said skeptically. She rarely believed anything he said anyway, and this was definitely one of them. Too many times had he lied, even though it wasn't with any form of deception to it, just teasing.  
"Whoa, I never knew this about you," Emiko gazed up at Ranma. There was so much to him neither her nor Lina knew, and they had been with Ranma for a good length of time. Lina shot Emiko a weird look, "Don't tell me you believe him, do ya?"  
Naga regarded Ranma a bit, "So tell me more. Why would you consider immortality a curse?"  
Ranma continued on, "Well, that wasn't necessarily the curse. Immortality was a part of it. Anyway, I eventually got myself curse, thus ridding myself of my immortality. However, I'm more interested in that resurrection bit. How does one go about using it?"  
"Why do you ask?"  
Sighing, he said, "I might as well exaplin it now. Anyway, a while back, my real self died,"  
"D-died? You died?" Emiko's eyes widened.  
Lina shrugged her shoulders, "So what? What's so shocking about having died? I've been there before,"  
"Y-you died?" Ranma pointed toward Lina, "What happened?" Although she didn't believe him, not entierely, she found this amusing.  
"I don't wanna talk about it," she said, "Let's just say I was lucky that a person named Sylphiel had been around at the time,"  
"Hm, I guess we have somethin' in common," Ranma smirked slightly, "Anyway, my true self died. I was cloned from him, thus the angel wings,"  
"Angel wings?" Naga regarded Ranma. She didn't notice any angel wings.  
"Forget about it," Lina said, "It's over your head,"  
Emiko looked at Ranma, "So go on,"  
"The reason why I'm interested in this resurrection spell thingie is so that I can perhaps resurrect my real self," he said, "I mean, I have talked to myself before, but he had a different role to play back then. I just want to talk to him and perhaps have a drink with him. That kinda thing. I've always wanted to meet my former self,"  
Emiko sat down, leaning against a tree, "Oh man, I never knew this before. And what do you mean by clone?"  
"What do you not understand? I'm a clone of the real Ranma Saotome," he said matter-of-factly, "The only difference is that where he died, I took over exect I'm part angel,"  
"An angel. Aren't we a bit arrogant today," Lina smirked.  
Ranma let out a breath in annoyance, "Hello, I'm not talking the kinda angel with white wings and a halo over his head. I'm talking about fallen, messenger of God, doomsday-type angel. Y'see, the angels on my world were basically harbingers of death..and I'm one of `em,"  
None of the girls said anything.  
"All right, when are you two going to realize that Ranma's only joking around," Lina finally said, noticing the two speechless companions.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I don't care if you believe me or not. It's not like I'm gonna lose sleep on it. Anyway, now that I've told you a bit of my life's story, perhaps you can tell me about how I can go about finding this resurrect spell,"  
Lina answered, "Fine, I'll tell ya since you entertained me with that story. Only a select few know of the resurrection spell. I know of someone who can use it. Her name's Sylphiel. We used to adventure together. And I'm pretty sure my sister knows this spell also,"  
Ranma's eyes widened, "Really? Y'think she'll help me out with that also? It'll be like killin' two birds with one stone,"  
Lina shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe," How far is he going to take this joke, she thought. But man, he sure is a good actor. He looks like he's actually telling the truth.  
"All right," he smiled happily.  
"So tell me," Lina smirked, "So what's the benefits of bein' a so-called, ahem, angel?"  
Ranma smirked, "Why should I show you? You don't believe me, afterall,"  
"Just humor me," she smirked, her arms crossed in front of her.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "All right. I guess there's nothin' wrong in that. What do ya wanna see?"  
"Well, I've always been curious about this," she said after careful thinking, "How powerful are you? I've never seen you actually go all-out before,"  
He smiled, "Oh, I know. How about his? Shoot me with a fireball,"  
"Okay. Fireball,"  
Expecting to catch Ranma off-guard, she shot a very powerful fireball at him, hoping it would hurt him enough to teach him a lesson, to not take his lying too far. She just wanted him to get hit with enough force so that he would bounce against several trees before coming to a stop. Surely he would be able to surived that since he survived so many of her other attacks.  
The fireball about ten meters in diameter shot from Lina's fingertips, rocketing toward Ranma at extreme speeds. Naga and Emiko were forced to lean away from the fireball because of the massive drag effect it created. The shear from the fireball caused the ground below it to become scorched.  
Lina was expecting Ranma to flinch and dodge at the very last moment, but stared with wide eyes as he stood where he was. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Ranma waved a hand in front of him at the last moment, this red barrier forming in front of him. When the fireball struck it, the barrier rippled like that of water, stretching outward in a circular formation from where it had been struck.  
When the massive explosion subsided, Emiko and Naga found themselves lying on the ground, having been knocked down from being within such close proximity to the explosion.  
They gazed up to see what had happened to Ranma, only to see him standing right where he was, unscathed.  
"What the?" everyone said, mouth agape.  
"It didn't even touch him," Emiko commented.  
Lina, unable to comprehend what had just happened, resorted to a tried and true tactic she had learned while younger, to simple keep dishing out the punishment and caust as much mas destruction as she could.  
She barraged Ranma with every offensive spell she could think of, all of them causing no effect, only succeeding in causing the barrier in front of Ranma to ripple. She was breathing very heavily afterwards, nearing the brink of exhaustion. She fell to one knee.  
Ranma rushed up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"  
Lina slapped Ranma's hand away, "I don't need your help,"  
She felt mortified, but didn't want Ranma to know. She couldn't believe that none of her spells could do anything. How could that be? On several times she had managed to hurt Ranma, even managed to knock him out, yet this time, nothing she threw effected him. It only took her a moment to realize that all those times, she had managed to hurt Ranma when he had been caught off guard. It seemed that when he didn't want to get hit or hurt, then he wasn't.  
She continued to stay kneeling, trying to catch her breath.  
Ranma kneeled down next to her, smiling slightly, "Are you all right?"  
"Yeah," she finally said.  
Ranma smiled yet again, his eyes cloudy, "Good, cause I'm not,"  
Lina looked up just in time to see Ranma's cloudy eyes and the exhausted look on his face as fell forward and into her arms, unconsious.  
"Ranma?"

Lina gazed down at Ranma's sleeping form. Although she would never admit it, she was a bit worried about him. One second he had been fine, and the next, he fell into a comatose state, totally defenseless and exhausted.  
The dancing fire from the campfire cascased against his sleeping visage. Ever since Ranma fell unconsious several hours ago, neither of the girls knew of what to do. Emiko had ascertained that Ranma wasn't at all hurt but seemed to have suffered from complete and utter exhaustion. The diagnosis was to let him rest, and that they let him do. He had been sleeping where Lina had gently placed him for almost half the day.  
"When do you think he's going to wake up?" Emiko asked. She was leaning against a tree, legs bent and pressed against her chest, resting her chin on her knees. Ever since Ranma had passed out, the day seemed to drag on. She, Lina also, had noticed just how dreary it seemed to be when Ranma was around adding fuel to the fire and annoying them. For once, they actually missed Ranma's teasing and egotistical banter.  
Naga didn't seem all too concerned about Ranma's condition. Since she didn't really know him, she had nothing to worry about. She had passed her time fiddling around with mending her cape and reading her spellbook, a very unusual spellbook at that because there was nowhere on her person for her to carry it yet she did. It was mysterious like the way Emiko carried her daggers.  
"It seems that's Ranma's weakness," Naga commented, now finished with reading her spellbook.  
"What do you mean?" Lina asked.  
"He seems to be able to summon some kind of impenetrable shield," she went about, "yet, just like with spell casting, it tires him out the longer he has to maintain that barrier. Perhaps he's a magic-user without even knowing it,"  
"What do you care?" Lina said coldly, "You don't even know the guy,"

argh! I hafta stop writing nothing but scenes! I hafta get back on track with this fic

meters. At least that,"  
"She's right. It looks to be around there," Emiko agreed reluctantly. She should had been the first one to point out the cliff's depth.  
Near the base of the cliff, about five or so miles out, a large town could be seen. Lina had already mentioned about how that is her hometown, Luna's hometown also. All that stood in their way, aside from the few miles of trekking through the woods, was the massive drop to the valley below.

Ranma looked down over the edge of the cliff and said, "Damn, that's one helluva drop. How far do you think it is to the bottom? Four hundred meters?" "Are you kiddin' me? That drop's at least five hundred He summoned up the biggest loogie his throat could produce and spit. It arced high into the air where it disappeared beyond the treetops far far below.  
"That's gross, y'know," Lina commented, this look of disgust eviden on her face.  
Ranma smiled, "Hey, it can't be helped. Whenever a guy sees a deep drop, he's compelled to spit, just to see how far it'll fall before it's too small to be seen,"  
"So what are we going to do now?" Emiko changed the subject, much to the girls' delight, "We can see the town Ranma grinned, "What else? We go sky divin',"  
"W-w-what?" Emiko's eyes widened, "A-are you crazy?"  
"Hey, it's the fastest way down," he replied, "Not unless you wanna climb your way down. If you do, it'll take a good portion of a day to do it, if not longer,"  
Lina smirked at Emiko, "Well, it seems we're stuck because the ninja girl there can't fly,"  
Emiko glared at Lina, a sneer on her face, "So what?"  
"Don't worry about it, Emi-chan," Ranma said, "Jus' hold onto me. I'll getcha down safely,"  
Emiko blushed slightly. This was basically the first time Emiko could ever recall ever hearing Emiko call her by her name. Lina also noticed this before. She was about to point this out, on what was the deal with Ranma calling Emiko by her name instead of 'lil miss ninja girl' like he usually did, but she stopped herself. So what if he called her by her first name. Sooner or later Ranma would call Lina by her name also...right?  
Ranma held his hand out for Emiko to take it.  
Emiko gazed at it for a moment, not really knowing what to do.  
"This is where you take hold of my hand," Ranma said in a teasing voice.  
"I know!" Emiko spat in annoyance.  
Ranma sighed. He reached out and grabbed hold of Emiko, one arm holding her waist, keeping her pressed close to him.  
Emiko gasped slightly. Sure, she was shocked, but it wasn't from being so suddenly pressed against someone. Rather, it was from the fact that she didn't feel this overwelming yearning to rip Ranma's heart out like she used to. Heck, she didn't feel the need to do so at all. What's wrong with her?  
"Hey!" Lina said.  
Ranma looked at Lina, "What?"  
"N-nothing," she said after a moment, walking away in a huff.  
"What's with her?" Ranma asked Naga.  
"Perhaps it's because she has no breasts," Naga answered.  
"You shut the hell up if you know what's good for you!" Lina snapped.  
Naga only laughed, not one bit daunted by the fiery haired magic user's threat. She simply casted her 'Raywing' spell and hovered into the air. She hovered about ten feet above the group.  
"Y'know, from where I'm standin'..." Ranma began, smirking as he looked up at where Naga was hovering.  
Emiko reached a hand up to cover Ranma's eyes, "Don't look you pervert!"  
Naga, unaware of what Ranma meant, had a confused look on her face, as she said to him, "What are you talking about?"  
"Let's jus' say that I can practically see your smile, and I'm not talking about your mouth," he said, eyes still covered.  
He then found his mouth being covered by Emiko's other hand, as she said, "You be quiet!"  
Ranma used his free hand to pull Emiko's hand away. He smirked, "And if I don't?"  
Emiko glared at him. If it really came down to it, there was nothing she could do. During that quickly conflict they had, before Ranma knew who she was, Ranma was only toying with her, despite the fact that he should had been fighting for his life.  
"Heck, now that I think about it, there's nothing you can do," Ranma continued to tease, still smirking, "I can sexually force myself on you, and there's nothin' you can do,"  
When Emiko gulped, Ranma quickly said, "However, I would never do something like that...simply because I'd rather kill myself than do somethin' sexual with you,"  
He grinned, hoping that that teasing manner would be enough to ease the tension he had created upon that comment.  
It worked because Emiko became fuming, slapping him a dozen times, "And just what do you find so unattractive about me?"  
Ranma threw Emiko over the edge of the cliff, "Have a nice day,"  
"W-w-what the hell?" Lina's eyes widened. She couldn't believe she saw what had just happened. Ranma actually threw Emiko over the cliff. Emiko was going to die, and it was all because of Ranma. Naga continued to hover there. She didn't really know what to do. At first, she was about to hover down after Emiko to save her, but that required work, something she wanted to skip out on if possible. Instead, she just continued to hover there, ignoring the shriek Emiko was giving out as she fell toward her inevitable demise.  
Ranma continued to look over the cliff as Emiko continued to fall.  
"Um, a-aren't you going to go after her?" Lina asked, after a good second. At first, she believed Ranma would go immediately after Emiko, but when he didn't, Lina started to get worried about her judgment of the handsome man. Could he be that heartless? Could her assumption of him be so far off?  
"Of course," he replied, his back toward her as he still peered down the cliff, "I ain't the kinda person to do something like that anyway,"  
A second later, Ranma lept off the cliff.  
The air rushed by him as he angled his body so that he would have the least air resistance. In no time, he caught out to the flailing Emiko, reangling his body to slow his descent.  
"Havin' fun?" Ranma smiled.  
"N-n-no!" Emiko stammered. Her heart was in her throat, her life flashing before her eyes, "H-h-help me!" She couldn't believe she was saying that. As a ninja, she had sworn to never ask for help, but in a situation like this, that could go right out the window for all she cared.  
Ranma crossed his arms, "Not until you say you're sorry,"  
"W-w-what?" she said. The winds rushing by her was causing her to hear things. Ranma wanted her to apologize? Did she hear that correctly?  
"Say you're sorry," he said, "For slappin' me,"  
"I'm sorry for slapping you," she quickly said. She looked down and could see the ground rushing up toward her. In one more second, she would hit the ground at bone-shattering speeds, a speed that spelled instant death.  
"Fine, I'll help you, but only if you say the magic word," he smirked.  
"Fine! Save me please!"  
Ranma reached out and grabbed Emiko's very eager hand, pulling her close to him, her body seemingly melding into his. Just moments before hitting the ground, Ranma twisted forward and landed skillfully on his feet. He landed with such skill that Emiko didn't even notice the sudden stop. He had landed so softly that not even footprints could be seen where he had landed.

new stuff 3/28

He placed Emiko safely on her feet, "Like I promised, I gotcha down safely,"  
The moment, Emiko's feet touched the ground, a hand shot out and slapped Ranma on his cheek.  
"What the hell didja do that for?" he shouted, rubbing his cheek.  
"For being such an insensitive jerk and making me have to go through such an ordeal like that!" she shouted back. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. She had never been so scared in her life, and she wouldn't had if it weren't for Ranma doing that to her!  
Ranma thought about it for a moment, "All right. I guess I deserved it,"  
He turned around and walked off in the general direction of the city he had seen high above. He didn't walk three steps when Lina hovered down to a stop directly in front of him. She made it so that her head level was even with Ranma's.  
"Yeah?" he asked after a short moment.  
"I'm surprised you were capable of landing so...skillfully," she commented. She noticed no disurbance in the ground where he had landed. "And not even a footprint was left behind. Very impressive,"  
Ranma smirked, "Well, thanks. Afterall, it's not like I had to depend on somethin' like magic to get me down here,"  
"W-what? What did you just say?" one of Lina's eyes twitched.  
Naga hovered down and onto the ground right next to Lina. Despite Lina still hovering, her head level wasn't much higher than Naga's. So much for intimidation factor there.  
"That was very impressive," Naga commented.  
Ranma smiled, "Thank you,"  
When he was about to walk off, Lina said, "Hey, aren't going to add that second comment you said to me just a second ago?"  
"What are you talking about?" he asked in mocked innocence.  
"You're doing that on purpose!" Lina glared.  
She ended up walking off toward a fallen log and sat down on it, her eyes narrow on the grinning Ranma. For a brief moment, Ranma felt that he had taken the teasing a bit too far and was about to approach her to apologize when she suddenly screamed out in pain.  
Before he could rush up to Lina to find out what had happened, she turned around and shot a massive fireball toward the log, incinerating it. All that was left behind was this crater a meter in diameter.  
Ranma walked up to Lina and said, "Whatcha do that for?"  
Lina glanced up toward Ranma, her face icy, "Because I felt like it," A moment later, this wave of pain showed up on her face as her visage contorted. She keeled forward, her hand held firmly on her inner right leg, falling forward into Ranma's arms due to her leg being unable to support her weight.  
"Are you all right?" he asked, noticing that he was supporting more than half of Lina's bodyweight. He gently knelt down and placed Lina on the ground, having so that she was sitting upright and facing him.  
He noticed Lina gripping her inner thigh and that there was a small rip in the red leggings she always wore. He looked more carefully and noticed a bit of blood seeping out from between her fingers.  
"I-it's nothing," she said through clenched teeth. She tried to pivot so that her back was toward Ranma, she that he wouldn't see her in such excruciating pain.  
Naga and Emiko took it upon themselves to walk over and find out what was going on. "There's nothing to see," Lina said, pain evident on her voice.  
"You sound like you're in pain," Naga smiled.  
"Wow, you must be a genius to notice something like that," she replied with acid sarcasm. She cringed as she felt yet another surge of pain run through her body. At a time like this, she really regretted having not learned some powerful healing spell.  
Ranma walked around her and knelt in front of her. He said in a soft voice, "What happened? Are you okay?"  
For a brief moment, Lina wanted to simply break down crying and tell him she had somehow been bitten by a snake, but she kept quiet. She wasn't some weakling. She had been hurt much more and pulled through before.  
Ranma said, "Here, lettme see. Maybe I can help,"  
Lina shook her head, "No. Go away. It's your fault this happened anyway,"  
"My fault? How do you suppose that?" he said. He waved his hand, "Forget about it. We'll talk about it later. Here, lettme have a look,"  
Lina's eyes showed just a slight moment of vulnerability and Ranma noticed this. He said, "C'mon, it's obvious you're hurt. Lettme have a look. I betcha I can help,"  
Lina hesitated for a moment but eventually gave in. There was just something to Ranma that didn't embarrass her to show vulnerability to. However, she was very aware of Emiko and Naga standing behind him.  
Ranma, noticing Lina's hesitation, turned toward Naga and Emiko and said, "What? This ain't some kinda show. I've got this under control. Go stand over there and twirl your hair or whatever you females do when trying to pass the time,"  
Naga let out an annoyed breath, "I don't need to listen to you. I am not obligated to do as you say," A sphere of fire glowed at the tip of Lina's extended index finger.  
Naga, not liking the thought of becoming a human torch, quickly turned her attention toward something else and walked off. Emiko, not liking the intent of malice in Lina's eyes, figured she should leave the girl alone.  
"We'll be over there," Emiko said, pointing toward a boulder where Naga was leaning against.  
Ranma, still kneeling in front of Lina, smirked, "Ooh, I'm really scared. You and I know those dinky fireballs ain't gonna hurt me,"  
"Why yo- Ouch!" Lina winced in pain as she tried to get up to teach Ranma a lesson. "What happened?" he asked softly, concern in his voice.  
"Um, it's nothing," Lina replied after a moment, still feeling tempted to tell him.  
"Well, it's obvious you're hurt," he said, rubbing his chin in thought. He extended a hand toward Lina's inner thigh to gently move her hand. However, in a moment of panic, Lina tried to scoot away, yelping in pain.  
Ranma chuckled. He sat down in front of the pain-ridden girl, resting his chin on his hand, the elbow resting on one of his inner thighs.  
"What's so damn funny?" Lina glared at the bemused Ranma.  
He smiled, "You,"  
"Me? What do you mean?"  
"Well, it's obvious you're hurt, but you don't seem to want my help," he said, "You're either bein' really prideful, or really stubborn. I believe it's the latter,"  
Lina gritted her teeth, "I'm not being stubborn," She sighed. Ranma was the one being stubborn. Why didn't he just leave her to suffer alone? Perhaps telling him will get him off her back.  
"If you really wanna know," she said, "I got bitten by a snake,"  
The color seemed to drain from Ranma's face, "A snake?"  
"Yeah,"  
"Here, lettme see," he said.  
"No!" Lina said emphatically.  
"It's not like you're wearin' a dress or nothing, so I ain't gonna see nothing," he said, "There's nothing to worry about,"  
"I don't care," she glared back.  
Ranma smirked, "It's not like it matters anyway. I've seen everything,"  
A blush came up to Lina's face, her face turning the same color of her hair.  
"Hey, you're blushing the same color as your 'natural' haircolor," he added, his grin from ear to ear now.  
Lina shouted, "Why you! Ouch!" She rubbed her inner thigh violently. The pain was unbearable.  
Ranma crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I can get rid of the pain, y'know. All ya hafta do is ask,"  
"Hmph! I don't need..." she began to say. After a moment, her eyes stared tearing as the searing pain ripped through her, "F-fine. G-get rid of the p-  
pain! P-please!"  
Ranma reached for and held his hand over Lina's inner thigh. Although the sight was very embarrassing for her, what with Ranma holding his hand just above her inner thigh, she didn't complain when she felt this warm sensation seem to emanate from his hand, alleviating the pain suddenly.  
Lina stared with wide eyes, "I-it's working. I never knew you knew white magic,"  
"I don't. This is one of the many wonders of ki and its uses," he smiled, looking up at her.  
Lina moved her leg, shocked that she no longer felt pain, "I-I don't feel the pain anymore,"  
"I only alleviated the pain," he said, breathing a bit heavily, "But it's only temporarily. We better getcha to a doctor and have your wound checked out," Since Lina was slowly trying to get to her feet, using a nearby tree to steady herself on one leg, Ranma was able to see the wound for the very first time. It was a rather nasty gash with two fang marks around two inches apart. A small trickle of blood was running down the side of her leg, staining her leggings.  
"Um, that snake wouldn't happened to have been poisonous, would it?" he asked.  
"We better hurry on to the city," she said, testing her weak leg. When she tried to put pressure on it, bolts of pain shot through her. She would not be able to walk.  
"Well?"  
"Well what?" she snapped.  
"Was that snake poisonous?" he asked patiently.  
"Yeah, it was," she said, "That's why I better go see a doctor,"  
Ranma muttered to himself, "Just my luck. It figures,"  
"What was that?" she asked, not having heard what he said. She could have sworn he was saying something about her boyish figure. "Nothin," he said. He knelt down in front of Lina.  
"W-what are you doing?"  
Just as he was about to put his mouth over the wound, a elbow rained down on the top of Ranma's head, sending him crashing down into the ground. He quickly got up, "What the hell didja do that for?"  
"I was about to ask you the same thing!" she said, her heart racing. Images were racing through her head. What was Ranma trying to do? It almost looked like he was trying to go down on her. That brought a horrible blush on her cheeks.  
Ranma, noticing the blush, "Hey, don't get the wrong idea ya pervert. I was gonna suck the poison out. It's not like I was gonna do _that_"  
"Suck the poison out? You mean from the snake bite?" she asked, a bit confused.  
"I never did it before, but I remember seeing in the movies," he said, "You're supposed to have someone suck out the poison. That way, it won't be able to go coursing through your body and perhaps reaching your heart, which could result in death if the venom is poison enough,"  
"D-death? F-from a snake bite?" Lina's voice paled.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno. I never dealt with snake bites before. And for your information, I ain't all that keen about sucking the poison out in the first place,"  
"And just who's asking you?" she snapped, "I don't need your help,"  
He jerked his thumb over toward Naga and Emiko, "However, perhaps you can go ask 'em for their help,"  
Lina's voice became very sullen. She would rather die than ask those two for help. However, she didn't want to die. She was too young and pretty to die. And besides, she hadn't fully blossomed into adulthood and developed beautiful breasts yet. She wanted to experience at least that.  
"So, what should we do?" he asked, his hands crossed in front of his chest, "I'm _reluctantly_ offering my help. It's either me or one of the other two over there...or risk going on without having the poison sucked out or removed. It's your choice. I don't suggest your last choice,"  
"Hmph, I don't like any of my options," she sighed.  
Ranma scratched the back of his head, "Well? Why dontcha go over and ask Naga or Emiko to do the favor of doing the perverted deed?"  
There was a long moment of awkward silence. To break the tension, Ranma reached out and grabbed one of Lina's breasts. That definitely did its job for Lina shrieked and slapped him, "What the hell did you do that for?"  
"Hey, I was just trying to break the tension!" he said coldly, rubbing his cheek.  
"Well you don't do something like that to break the tension!" she sneered, "I oughta kill you for that!"  
"C'mon," he said, changing the subject, "Make a decision,"  
"I'm trying to decide!" she shouted, very annoyed.  
"Waitaminute," Ranma said, getting an idea.  
"What?"  
"You wouldn't happen to be _really_ flexible would you?" he asked, "That way you can suck the poison out yourself,"  
Lina blinked several times, "That's your great idea? Are you stupid? No, I'm not that flexible! Let's see if you can bend forward far enough to suck on your own inner thigh!"  
"Actually, I'm pretty sure I can," he said.  
Lina pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that," She sighed, "Well, I guess I'll letcha help me,"  
"Let me help 'you'?" he said, "I don't think you understand. You're the one in the predicament, not I. I'm the one offering you the favor, not the other way around,"  
"S-sexual favor? I don't want no sexual favor from you! What the hell are you talking about?" Lina blushed.  
"Huh? I didn't say that. You better clean the wax outta your ears. I think your hearing things," he said, shaking his head, "You're the one that's bringing sex into this. What the hell's on yer mind?" He shrugged his shoudlers, "Whatever. Well, since I guess I'm stuck doing the deed, I don't want you getting all weird on me,"  
"And just what do you mean by that?"  
"If I hear just one moan, I'm throwing you in the river," he said sternly, "You better no be having hentai thoughts because I'm only sucking out the poison. Ya got that?"  
"Moan? I would never moan!" she shouted, "Y'know what? Forget it! I don't want your stinking help! I'd rather risk dying that accepting your help!"  
She tried walking away from Ranma but her weak leg failed her. She ended up falling forward and into Ranma's arms. She looked up and saw him grinning back down at her.  
"My my, aren't we in a bad predicament?" he teased.  
Lina quickly pushed herself away, falling down on her backside, "I don't need your help,"  
Ranma placed his hands on his hips, saying nothing. His smirk was grating on her nerves.  
"Will you quit lookin' at me like that?" she snapped, "If you keep it up, I'm gonna rip that smile right off your face with my bare hands,"  
Ranma continued to smirked, "Whatever you say, Lina,"  
Emiko, impatient with waiting, dared to approach the two, "Are we ready to go yet? What's taking so long?"  
Ranma jerked a thumb toward Lina, "Well, it's kinda complicated,"  
"Don't say a thing!" Lina said.  
"Y'see," he ignored her, "Lil miss magician here went and got herself bitten by a snake. And it was poisonous,"  
Lina let out an annoyed breath. Why did she even bother to tell Ranma to keep quiet. He usually did things out of spite, just to annoy her.  
"And she's too self conscious of herself," he continued on, "because the only readily available remedy to something like that is to have the venom sucked out,"  
"Quite the predicament you seem to have gotten yourself into, Lina," Naga commented wryly. She didn't seem perturbed by Lina's icy glared and simply laughed.  
Ranma said patiently, "Well, what are ya gonna do?"  
"I'm thinking!" Lina spat, "I'm thinking. I don't like any of my options,"  
"Have fun deciding," he said. He walked off toward.  
"W-w-where are you going?" Lina asked. She wasn't expecting Ranma to simply get up and leave her like that.  
Ranma turned back around, "I'm going off to take a leak. Jeez. I'll be right back," He didn't walk all that far away because the girls got a full view of Ranma's back about a hundred feet away as he stood in front of a tree and relieved himself.  
"Can't you at least do that where we can't see you?" Emiko called out, her back toward him. Before she was finished with her sentence, Ranma had already finished his business and was walking toward the group.  
"See, I told ya it's better being a guy," he smirked, "I can do my business anywhere. All I hafta do is turn my back to all of ya,"  
Ranma scratched the back of his head as he looked at Lina and said, "So, have you decided yet? Whatcha gonna do?"  
"Ew, you just touched your head," Emiko cringed.  
"Yeah, so?"  
"You didn't even wipe your hand," she said.  
"Most disgusting," Naga had to agree.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, for your information, that's probably the cleanest part of a man's body,"  
None of the girls said anything. This digression should not have even surfaced. Ranma quickly changed the subject, "So, whatcha gonna do?"  
"Hmph, there's no way I want Naga nor Emiko to help me out," Lina muttered just loud enough for Ranma to only hear. Naga and Emiko had walked back off to leave Ranma and Lina alone.  
Ranma said, "And?"  
"And what? What do you want me to say?"  
"Say please," he smiled.  
"Fine. Please,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I guess that's good enough. All right, just lie still,"  
Lina closed her eyes, fighting agains the horrible blush coming to her cheeks as she noticed Ranma leaning in close toward her inner thigh. Her heart was racing a mile a minute.  
Just as Ranma's lips were inches from the wound, a dagger became embedded in the tree Lina was leaning against. "Just what do you think you're doing?" Emiko's icy voice could be heard as she walked over toward where Ranma and Lina were.  
"None of your business!" Lina snapped. She had this smirk on her face. She noticed that Emiko seemed somewhat miffed at what Ranma had been about to do a second ago had she not interfered. She liked seeing a bit of rage in Emiko's face.  
"Oh," Ranma said, looking up toward her, grinning, "Lina here was was under alotta stress and I figured I would help by relieving it,"  
"What?" Lina and Emiko shouted in unison.  
"H-he was not!" Lina stammered. She looked at him, "What the hell are you talking about?"  
"Oh lighten up, Lina," he said, "I was only joking around. Jeez," He turned toward Emiko, "Don't worry about it. I was just helping Lina with something,"  
"I bet!" Emiko glared.  
Ranma laughed. He shooed for Emiko to leave, "Go away. You're only gonna misunderstand. I've been in enough situations like this to know that having a girl around will result in bodily harm to myself so just make like a good lil ninja girl and play with your daggers over by that tree over there..." Emiko glared at Ranma.  
Ranma smiled cheerily, "Yes?"  
"What were you going to do?" she asked curiously.  
"Go away," Ranma continued to smile, "I'll tell ya later. I'll just letcha get all jealous for a while so you can feel like an idiot when you find out the real reason. That way, you won't jump to conclusions the next time something like this happens.  
"I'm not going away," she crossed her arms over her chest.  
A small ball of fire glowed at the tips of Lina's index finger, "You heard what he said. Go away,"  
"Ha, you think something like that's going to scare me?" Emiko challenged her.  
"Wanna find out?" she smirked.  
Ranma gave Lina an odd look, "You seem to be enjoying this. Now why is that?"  
Lina blushed. She didn't want Ranma to find out that she really enjoyed seeing this jealous look in Emiko's eyes. She quickly said, "Oh, not really. It's none of her business anyway,"  
"It is my business," Emiko said, "Afterall, that's my future husband you're trying to seduce,"  
"What?" Lina's eyes widened to three times their normal size.  
Ranma looked at Emiko, "No one's seducing anyone here. I'm jus' doing her a favor,"  
"I bet," Emiko said wryly.  
"Not that kinda favor," Ranma sighed, "Jeez, what a perverted lil ninja you are,"  
"Hmph,"  
"Look, just trust me," he said.  
Emiko glared at Ranma for several moments before she sighed. There was no reason for her not to trust him. Sure, he was a teasing bastard, but never had he ever hurt her feelings before, at least not intentionally. Besides, he fibbed and bluffed a lot, but he never out right lied before.  
"Fine," Emiko said. She reluctantly walked away. The further she walked away, the more she started to realize something. Because Ranma had said for her to trust him, that he was not doing anything funny, she really believed him and that it was a huge weight lifted off her shoulders.  
"That's strange," she said silently to herself, "Aside from Rene-sama, I never trusted anyone before. So why do I trust Ranma all of a sudden?"  
She leaned against a boulder, her back toward the scene, to contemplate these thoughts. Naga seemed to be doing the same, minding her own business.  
Ranma then turned toward Lina and smiled mischieviously, "All right. Let's move on to the kinky stuff,"  
"W-w-what?" Lina stammered. Her heart skipped a beat.  
"I'm jus' joking," he said, "Jeez, quite taking things so literal. You're gonna develop high blood pressure if you're all serious and such," He shrugged his shoulders, "All right. Let's get that venom outta ya,"  
Lina gulped, holding her breath as she saw Ranma leaning forward toward he, his face lowing toward her inner thigh. Because of the position she was in, what with her sitting leaning against a tree, her legs spread apart and Ranma bringing his head down between them, it provided quite a licentious position. Thoughts raced through Lina's mind, thoughts that she wasn't supposed to be thinking of in the first place, thoughts that made her heart race faster and faster and his face inched closer.  
Lina gasped as she felt Ranma's lips touch the bare skin surrounding the wound. She then felt Ranma slowly suck the venom out of the wound. As he did so, these weird sensations were shooting through her body, sensations she had never felt before. It made her feel warm, like she was taking a warm bath. In a sense, that sensation was actually pleasurable, kind of like the way a nice relaxing footrub or backrub was.  
An incoherent moan almost escaped Lina's lips. However, she didn't moan because she remember Ranma saying something about getting angry if she did. Besides, she didn't want Ranma thinking that she was thinking hentai thoughts because she wasn't. She was simply enjoying the sensations, afterall.  
"What the?" came Ranma's voice, becoming upright again.  
Lina, unable to hold her breath anymore, quickly inhaled. She dared to open her eyes when she heard Ranma's voice. She was a bit startled when she saw Ranma looking directly at her.  
"Is this some kinda joke?" Ranma said.  
"Huh?"  
"That snake wasn't poisonous," he said, "You can tell by the wound. That's not the wound from a poisonous snake. It's just a regular snake bite. Heck, a bite from a wild animal's more dangerous because there's a chance of rabis,"  
"I-it isn't poisonous?" Lina asked.  
"No. Whatcha trying to pull her?" he said, getting up to his feet, "You're gonna be fine. You're only in pain because of the initial bite, not the so-  
called venom," He didn't bother to mention that he should have noticed that before.  
Lina looked down at her leg. She tried to move it. To her surprise, she was able to move it. Although a sharp pain shot up that leg, it wasn't as excruciating as it was a few minutes ago. She moved it a bit more and noticed that the pain had subsided quite a bit.  
"Um, perhaps that's because the venom's out,"  
"Perhaps because there was none in the first place," Ranma said, standing to his feet. He wiped the tiny trickle of Lina's blood running down his chin. He sighed, "Well, whatever. I guess you're gonna be all right. All ya hafta do is worry about getting the wound looked at,"  
Before Lina could ask what he was doing, Ranma ripped a small protion of his shirt off and wrapped it around her leg, "There, that should keep stop the bleeding,"  
"Um, thanks," she managed to say. She remember Ranma mentioning something about not using his wings because it ruined his shirts yet he seemed to have no problem ruining this one to help stop her bleeding. There must be some significance to that.  
Ranma gave Lina an annoyed look, "Whatever. You're welcome,"  
He turned back around and headed over toward Emiko and Naga, leaving Lina alone to ponder her thoughts.  
"I could have sworn it was poisonous," she said to herself.  
Could I have been wishful thinking on my part?  
Ranma and the others walked into the inn.  
"So tired," Linna said wearily. She was barely able to keep her eyes open. Actually, she wasn't the only one. Naga and Emiko was every bit as tired, if not more. They were so close to her sisters tavern. However, it was located on the other side of the vast city. It would take another half hour of walking before they would reach it, and it was a half hour worth of walking that she, nor the others, would be able to trek.  
Ranma didn't look at all tired. He looked every bit as awake as if he was woken up from a well rested night. "Aren't you at all tired?" Emiko asked. She was sitting on the couch just to the side of the check in counter. She knew if she closed her eyes, she would fall dead asleep right there.  
Ranma shook his head, "Not really. I guess it's the realization that I'm pretty close to my destination that's keepin' me awake. However, I see no problem in getting some rest, even though we're so close. I mean, what's one more day anyway to add to the month or so I've been here?"  
He walked up to the counter and placed a bag full of gold on it. The sight of it made Naga and Lina's weary eyes open widely.  
"Where did you get so much gold?" Lina asked. "Hey, just because I gave you a huge sum of money back then, that doesn't mean I gave ya all the money," he replied. He turned back toward the man behind the counter, "We'd like four rooms please, one for the each of us,"  
"Um, I'm sorry sir, but-" the man began.  
Without hearing the full sentences, Ranma's face became sullen as he shook his head and sighed, "Why does this happen to me?" He looked at the man, "Lettme guess, you only have one room vacant,"  
"That's correct," the man said. He regarded the three females behind them. They were very beautiful women, the kind that would easily attacted attentions from males throughout.  
Ranma turned toward the three girls, "Well, it looks like you three are stuck looking for yer own rooms at some other ho-"  
He didn't finish his sentence as he noticed all three females sleeping soundly on the couch. Emiko was one one end, Naga on the other, and Lina in the middle. The muscles around Ranma's jaw tightened, "I shoulda known,"  
"Um, what would you like to do, sir?" that man asked.  
Ranma sighed, "I'll take the room. These three obviously need the rest,"  
"Um, okay,"  
Ranma singed himself in and paid for the room. He took the key and the intructions to the room. He walked over to where the three girls slept, shaking his had in discontent.  
"Yeah, leave me with all the work, why dontcha?" he muttered. He picked up all three girls and headed toward the stairway. He had to go up four flights of stairs to reach the floor where his room was.  
As Ranma walked past the man, the man said, "You're a very lucky man, sir. I mean, three women in the same room..."  
Ranma chuckled, "Then how come I don't feel so lucky?"

new stuff 3/29

Lina slowly opened her eyes. It took her a few moments to realize where she was. She looked about and realized she was in some kind of hotel room and was on the bed of that room. Naga and Emiko were sleeping on the floor. Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed Ranma emerge from the bathroom, shirtless, clad only in his boxers, as he was drying his hair with a towel. Because of the way he was holding the towel, the muscles of his abdomen could be seen clearly.  
Lina couldn't help but notice that Ranma had a very well built body.  
She blushed slightly and turned her gaze away.  
"It seems sleepyhead's up," he said in a cheery morning voice, "Ya sleep okay?"  
"Um, yeah, fine," she said. As Ranma dried his hard, she could feel this almost tangible silence envelope the room. She said, "Um, it looks like I slept in the bed. I don't remember getting into-"  
"You and the others fell asleep last night on the couch," came the reply. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his back toward her, allowing her a good look at his defined trapezius muscles and lats and said, "I carried all of you to this room. Since you're still hurt from that fake poisonous snake incident, I figure you needed the most rest,"  
"Fake poisonous snake..." she said softly, "Um, speaking of that,"  
"Yeah, what about it?"  
"I really thought it was poisonous," she said, "I'm telling you the truth,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I believe ya. What's done is done,"  
"Yeah, I guess," she said, "I guess I should thank you for having done what you did. I guess it's the thought that counts,"  
He laid back down, the towel over his shoulders, smirking, "And?"  
"And what?"  
"Aren't you gonna say you're sorry?"  
Lina was silent for a moment before she finally spoke, "Fine. I'm sorry. I guess I assumed the worst case scenario. I shouldn't've jumped to conclusions,"  
"Gee, ya think?" he chuckled a bit.  
Lina looked down at the piece of Ranma's shirt he had used to wrap around her leg, "So, what are you going to do about your shirt?"  
"What else, I'm gonna go buy a new one," he said, "It's not brain surgery or nothing," He got up and headed for the door. When Lina queried as to where he was going, he replied, "I'm gonna go look for a shop to buy a shirt. I'll be right back,"  
Lina said, "I better get some new pants,"  
"Don't worry about it," he said, "I'll go buy 'em while I'm at it,"  
"You don't know my size,"  
Ranma smirked, "Yes, I do,"  
Lina blushed unconsciously. She hated how easily it was to get her riled up.  
"If you recall, that outfit you're wearing is the exact outfit that I got for ya a while back after having torn your previous one," he smiled, "However, there's no real need. Now if it were for something like panties, I think it'd be necessary that come alone. Otherwise..."  
"All right," Lina let out an annoyed breath, "I get the picture,"  
"Besides," he added, "You're still hurt. You should rest,"  
Lina was silent for a moment. Was he that concerned for her? She moved her leg. It felt fine.  
"My leg feels much better. I can walk," she said, "Besides, it's not like you can tell me what to do,"  
"True,"  
"And I don't want to stay cooped up in this room, let alone in a room with Emiko and Naga," she said. She threw a pillow at the slumbering Naga, "And perhaps you don't notice, but Naga could sound like a chainsaw from time to time. You can hardly hear yourself think,"  
Ranma laughed. Lina seemed to stare for a moment, noticing how carefree and relaxed he looked.  
"All right," he said, "If you insist,"  
"Hey, what makes you think I was insisting," Lina's eyes narrowed, "I was simply telling you that I was coming along," She had a reputation to uphold. She didn't need to ask for permission to go where ever she pleased.  
Ranma laughed again, "Sure,"  
He extended a hand for Lina to take. Lina just stared.  
"This is where you take my hand," Ranma teased.  
"I know you fool," Lina spat, "But I don't need your help. I can do fine myself. I was doing fine before you showed up here and I'll do fine...after you leave,"  
The last few words were said softly. For the first times, she realized that Ranma was actually going to be leaving and never coming back. She had been too angry or annoyed with Ranma over the course of the trek to realize that he would soon be gone. Today could be the last day she was ever going to see him.  
Ranma placed on his shirt and headed for the door, "All right. I'll meetcha downstairs in the lobby. I'll just leave a message for Naga and Emiko telling 'em where we went,"  
"Fine. I'll just quickly take a shower and be down,"  
Ranma didn't wait downstairs for too long before Lina came walking down the stairs. She had a slight limp because she didn't really like putting her weight on her bad leg. She was a bit winded, a bit surprised at how hard it was to climb down a few flights of stairs on a bad leg.  
"You okay?" he asked, wondering if he should help her out. He chose to remain different. Lina was probably going to get angry if he offered help anyway.  
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. She limped over toward Ranma. When he was about to ask something like 'Are you sure?', she waved a hand, "I'm sure,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "All right. I talked to the woman behind the counter. She says there's a clothing shop just around the corner. We can go check that place out,"  
Lina nodded.  
Ranma turned toward the woman behind the counter, "Thanks for your help,"  
"Y-you're welcome," the woman said. There was a flushed look on her face. It was obvious that she seemed to be attracted the the man that spoke to her and Lina noticed this. When actually bothered Lina was that she actually found herself getting a bit jealous.  
"I must be going crazy," she muttered to herself.  
"Crazy? Why do you say that?" Ranma asked, approaching her. He held the door open for her. "Nothing," she said as she walked by him. He noticed a very nice aroma, "Say, that shampoo smells really really nice,"  
Lina blushed a bit. It was strange. She usually used soap to wash her hair yet she had actively used shampoo this time around. It was a bit gratifying that Ranma had noticed. It seems nothing escaped his perception.  
"Well, it was the only shampoo I could find," Lina said with a wave of the hand.  
"I guess you're right. It was either that or jus' soap," he shrugged.  
Lina was silent.  
Stepping outside and into the cool morning air, Ranma took a deep breath, "What a beautiful morning,"  
"Hmph, I figure something like a sunset or good scenery would escape your grasp," Lina commented with a smirk.  
"On the contrary," he said, "For your information, I woke up at dawn just to see the sunrise. Considering the junk I've been through and seen, scenery is one of the few things I can enjoy,"  
"Oh? What other things do you enjoy?" she asked curiously.  
Ranma smirked, "You'll find out if we were to get married,"  
Lina blushed a horrible shade of red but managed to steel herself, "Yeah, I'm sure you do,"  
"I was only joking around," he said.  
"Why do you keep joking around?" she spat, "Your constant teasing and jokes is starting to wear thin," She didn't bother to mention that it grated on her nerves and seemed to make her heart always beat fast.  
"Fine, I'll stop," he smiled.  
"See, you're joking again," she said.  
Ranma laughed. He placed a hand on Lina's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, "I like that. That was funny. No, for real. I'll stop,"  
"Y-you will?"  
"All ya had to do was ask," he smiled.  
"So all this time I've been with you, you would've stopped bugging the hell outta me if I had asked?" she asked skeptically.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "Gee, it seems all this time I've been trying to instill into you the power of simply saying 'please' escapes your grasp,"  
Lina was about to say something but stopped. Could it have been that simple?  
"Fine, let's test this out," she smiled and pointed, "Please, go pick up that piece of horse dung over there and eat it,"  
Ranma's eyes narrowed.  
This time, it was Lina's turn to laugh.  
"Asking could only get you so far," he said, "There's some things I won't do even if you ask as nicely as possible,"  
"Like?"  
"Right off the bat, I'll never fight someone or be the aggressor in a situation," he said, "The only time I would ever fight is for defensive purposes,"  
Lina shook her head, "You're missing a good thing. It's fun being the so-  
called bad guy from time to time,"  
"I'll take your word for it," he shrugged his shoulders.  
"What about those bandits? You seem to attack them so you steal-"  
"I ask them first," he said, "It's just the fact that they seem to attack me is what makes me attack back. However, I always ask,"  
Lina thought back to her past encounters with Ranma. She recalled having bumped into Ranma after he had disbanded a group of bandits. He had mentioned approaching that group and asking for food. At least that was what she remember him mentioning.  
She shrugged and said, "Whatever. C'mon, let's go take a look around,"  
Ranma held the door as Lina entered. Inside, Lina's eyes widened at the huge selections of clothes should could choose from. For some reason, her gaze rested up a summer dress.  
"I'm sure that'll look good on ya," he commented. He was already at the counter.  
"Y-you already found what you were looking for?" Lina's eyes widened.  
"Yep," he smiled, "All I wanted was a shirt. I'm not all that picky. A shirt is a shirt, afterall,"  
Lina looked down at the dress, "You think this'll really look good on me?"  
"Yeah, why not?" he said. He walked over and inspected the dress, "I don't really know much about fashion, but I do know a nice dress when I see one,"  
"You can say that again,"  
"About what? The dress you mean?"  
Lina smiled, "No, I'm talking about the fashion sense part,"  
Ranma looked up at Lina, "And whatcha mean by that?"  
"That shirt," she pointed, "It looks bad. That particular shirt will clash with your pants,"  
Ranma smiled, "Oh, and I suppose you know what shirt I should wear,"  
"As a matter of fact," she began. She walked over to a red shirt that hung near the window, "This shirt'll be much better. The fabric matches with that of your pants,"  
Ranma took hold of the shirt. He shrugged his shoulders and put his first selection back, "All right. I'll take it then,"  
He walked over to the counter where a young woman was in front of the register. She smiled warmly at him, "Will that be all?"  
"Not yet," he said, "I'll take that dress for my friend also,"  
"But I didn't say-" Lina began.  
"Yeah, but if you don't get it, you'll end up regrettin' it," he said, "I know ya wanna try it out,"  
Lina didn't say anything. Was it that evident that she had wanted that dress? Could Ranma tell? She watched as Ranma happily paid for the dress and put it in a bag.  
Ranma took the dress and put it on the counter. He paid for the dress before Lina could say anything. She didn't refuse Ranma's offer since it seemed he was paying for it with his own money. Afterall, the best way to save money was spent someone else's.  
"Thanks," she said softly as Ranma handed the bag to her.  
Ranma headed toward the dressing room, "Now, time to put on this shirt,"  
He entered the dressing room and emerged a minute later, clad in a new shirt.  
"It looks good on you," the counter girl commented warmly.  
"Thanks," he said, looking at himself in the mirror. He took the girl's word. He assumed it looked good on him when in actuallity, he could care less of how his outfit looked.  
"That's because I chose it," Lina commented, saying it just loud enough for both Ranma and the counter girl, the counter girl especially, to hear.  
Ranma said, "Well, are you ready to go?"  
"But I haven't found a pair of pants yet,"  
"What about this dress? Ain't it enough?" he asked, looking at her bag.  
"No," she said, "I don't plan on wearing a dress the entire time,"  
Ranma scratched his chin, "Oh, I get it...in case it's windy, you don't want end up flashing those panties of yours,"  
"Ranma!" Lina shouted.  
"What?" he asked.  
Lina sighed. She should hit him for saying something like that, but because Ranma seemed innocently ignorant of the embarrassment of his comment, she would let it slide. "No," she said, clearing the throat, "The dress should only be worn on special occasions. I prefer wearing regular pants,"  
"All right," he said, "I'll just wait outside. Jus' lettme know whatcha want and I'll get it,"  
"Fine,"  
Ranma left the store.  
Lina grinned. Ranma had offered to pay for whatever pair of pants she wanted. She was going to take advantage of that offer and buy the most expensive pair of pants in the entire store. That way, she would be able to sell them for some extra cash and use some of it to but the pair she really wanted.  
Her gaze rested on a pair of pants with a intricate golden design sewn into it. She looked at the price tag and smiled. The price was that off a small house.  
"I'll take this," she smiled. She walked over to the counter and placed it on it for the girl to ring up.  
"That man is very handsome, is he your boyfriend?" the girl asked.  
Lina blushed. She quickly said, "N-no. H-he isn't. He's just a friend,"  
"Really? Wow," the girl said.  
There was a moment of silence.  
"Why? What's it to ya?" Lina narrowed her eyes.  
The girl smiled meekly, "I was just asking. He seems quite the catch,"  
Lina grinned, "Maybe. Maybe not,"  
The girl told Lina of the price of the pair of pants. Lina exited the store and told Ranma. He entered and casually paid for it, but not before commenting, "Wow, that's a lot more than what I paid for my shirt. Oh well,"  
Lina gave Ranma and odd look, "Waitaminute, you're not upset at how much it is?"  
"No. Why? Am I supposed to be?"  
"Forget it," she said in a huff, "It's just that I find it odd that someone would shell out so much money with such ease,"  
"Yeah, well, it's not like I should care. It's not like I'm taking the money with me back home," he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the bag of gold coins.  
He handed it to Lina, "As a matter of fact, since I'm not buying anything anymore, you might as well have the rest. I'll just keep a lil bit for breakfast and that it,"  
Lina stared at the money in her hands. Bounties on her head was less than what she was holding, and that meant quite a bit because she there were bounties put on her by countries and kingdoms and such.  
"Y-you're just going to give it to me? All that?" Lina said.  
"Yeah, why not. I don't want it,"  
Lina put the money in her pockey, "You're not going to hear any complaints from me. Thanks,"  
Ranma headed for the door and said, "Well, let's head on back. The others should be up by now,"  
"Waitaminute," Lina followed after him. Aren't you going to at least show some anger with me so greedily accepting the money, she wondered.  
Ranma and Lina entered the lounge where they saw Emiko reading a note. When she glanced up, her face lit up, "Ranma, you're back,"  
"Yep,"  
"We were about to come get you," Emiko commented, "I was just finishing reading the note. So, where did you...and Lina go?"  
Ranma smiled, "Perhaps you should read the note again,"  
Emiko glared at Ranma.  
Unaffected, he said, "As the note said, we went out to get some clothes. I got this shirt I'm wearing and Lina got a dress and a pair of pants. Don't worry, Emi-chan, Lina and I didn't do anything funny,"  
"Emi-chan? My name isn't Emi-chan," Emiko snapped. She didn't really seem all that angry. Rather, she seemed to be a bit relieved, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.  
Ranma's stomach grumbled.  
"My my, aren't we a bit hungry today," Lina said with a smirk.  
"That I am. C'mon, let's go eat," he said.

Ranma ate more food than all three girls combined. He consumed more than twice the amount Lina consumed. He continued eating and eating and eating.  
"Damn, you eat a lot," Lina commented.  
"What about you?" Ranma smiled, jerking a thumb toward the fifteen or so empty plates stacked on top of one another right by Lina. He continued on eating. Figuring now was a good time as any, Ranma took it upon himself to get to know Naga a bit better.  
"So, Naga, how do you and Lina know each other?"  
Naga lauged, "We're rivals. Lina is always upset that my power dwarf hers,"  
"What?" Lina stood up, her hands planted firmly on the table.  
Ranma continued on eating. He paused a moment to asked, "Have you known each other for long?"  
"Yes," she replied, "Lina has had the pleasure of knowing someone like myself for close to four years now,"  
"Yesh, four years," Lina muttered, "And that happens to be eactly four year longer than I wish to have known her,"  
"Do I sense some hostility?" Ranma asked sarcastically.  
"Gee, you think?" Lina snapped.  
Ranma changed the subject, "Does your lower back ever hurt?"  
Naga gave Ranma and odd look, "What makes you ask that?"  
"Oh, nevermind," he said, "So, what do you think of the trip so far? It's probably nowhere near as exciting as those treasure hunts you and Lina go on,"  
Naga shook her head, "Not quite as exciting, but it seems to be every bit as interesting. It seems my arch nemesis has a thing for you,"  
"What?" Lina shouted, her face extremely red.  
"Why else would someone like her buy a dress unless she wishes for you to see her wearing it?" Naga smirked, "She would never in her life wear something like that,"  
"I did not!" Lina shouted, her fists clenched.  
Ranma looked at the blushing Lina, "She's only kiddin', right?"  
"O-of course she is," Lina stammered slightly, "She's only saying that to get me all riled up,"  
"If it doesn't applay to you, then why are you all riled up then?" Naga commented.

new stuff 4/11

Lina glared at Naga. She sat down, barely managing to control her rage. She proceeded to eat her food. Unfortunately, she tried to swallow something that was too large for travel down her throat. For the first few moments, Lina tried to swallow the piece of food, much to no avail. Eventually, it dawned on her that she was choking.  
In quiet desperation, Lina tried to force herself to either swallow or cough the food from her throat. When her face started turning pale, she started to finally realize that she was in deep deep trouble.  
"You okay?" Ranma noticed Lina turning a different shade of color.  
Lina pointed toward her throat and tried to say that she was choking but no words were emerging.  
"Oh shit!" Ranma said, realizing what was going on.  
Lina's life was flashing before her eyes as she realized that she was eventually going to choke to death. Her. The Lina Inverse, done in by a piece of food. And there was nothing she could do because there was no means of freeing one's air passage once a piece of food had been enlodged.  
Without hesitation, Ranma quickly got up out of the seat. He rushed behind Lina and pulled the seat out from behind her.  
Lina was still trying to cough, to do anything to prevent from choking. She immediately found herself being picked up off the seat, Ranma's arms wrapping around her from behind, one hand in a fist right above her sternum and the other hand covering over that fist.  
She would had asked what Ranma was doing had she been able to. At the moment, she was scared for her life. Before she could react, Ranma thrusted his hands inward into Lina's sturnum, causing the food to become disenlodged and flying out of her mouth and onto the plate from which she ate.  
Lina coughed, nearly falling to her knees if it weren't for Ranma holding her up.  
"You okay?" he asked, steadying her. It seemed as if all of Lina's strength had been sapped away from her. Perhaps a life-threatening experience tended to do that to people.  
It took several moments before she managed to compose herself and respond, "I-  
I'm okay,"  
Lina didn't know how to act really. She had been a goner for sure. On this world, anyone to have started choking was doomed to death because no one knew of how to go about causing the person to cough up the food particle. She had always eaten quickly, believing it was worth the risk of choking since you only lived once. After such an experience, she couldn't believe the risk she had been taking all these years. What would have happened if Ranma wasn't there?  
"W-what did you just do?" Emiko stared with wide eyes.  
"Oh, it was something I learned a while back," he responed. He looked at Lina, "Are you sure you're all right?"  
"Y-yeah. I-I'm fine...thanks to you," she said. Ranma had just saved her life. That was without a doubt.  
Ranma sat back down, "No problem,"  
He proceeded to eat.  
All three girls looked at each other.

Naga rubbed the small of her back as she continued on walking. Ranma had noticed this. Lina and Emiko were following closely behind. They watched as Ranma walked up ahead to catch up to Naga since she seemed to have been leading the group, at least in her own mind.  
"I assume your lower back must be killing you," he commented.  
"Oh, and what makes you say that?" Naga asked, her full attention on him. She never really displayed vulnerability to people if that could be the case.  
Ranma didn't bother to beat around the bush since he didn't know the art of being tactful. He simply said, "Well, considerin' how you're top heavy and all, that should contribute tremendously to your lower back being in constant pain,"  
"And just what makes you think I'm in constant pain?" Naga narrowed her eyes at him. How did he know? All she did was rub her lower back and he was able to tell from something like that? And just what did he mean by top heavy? Was he implying that she was fat?  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "All right. Nevermind then,"  
There was a moment to silence.  
"Let's just say that my lower back does hurt," she began hypothetically, "What would you recommend to alleviating this?"  
"A breast reduction," he said matter-of-factly.  
"W-w-w-hat?" Naga shouted, becoming suddenly angry, "What does my beautiful breast have to do with this?"  
Ranma shrugged once again and said, "All right. Forget I mentioned it. It's just that considering how, y'know, you're pretty well-endowed up there..."  
"Are you saying that my breasts is that cause of my lower back pain?" Naga asked. Any regular girl would be embarrassed with a conversation like this with someone of the opposite sex, but not Naga. She wasn't an ordinary girl. She liked talking about her breasts as a matter of fact.  
Ranma nodded, "More or less,"  
"Well, if this so-called breast reduction sounds anything like what it implies, I'll have no part with it," she said sternly, "I have had these since I was a little girl and I have no intention of parting with them,"  
Ranma chuckled. That was a rather amusing reply if he ever heard one. He smiled and said, "Well, actually, that was just one of the suggestions. Another one, a more immediate one would be to let me help," Naga's eyes narrowed, "Help? Now why would you want to help me?"  
"All right, fine," he said with annoyance, "If whatever life you live have made you cynical and distrustful and you prefer to live that way, then forget I asked,"  
"Let me get this straight," Naga said, "You were offering to help me out, no strings attached?"  
Ranma shook his head, "Forget it. You lost yer chance,"  
"Wait," Naga reached out and grabbed a hold of Ranma's shoulder.  
Ranma turned toward her, "Yes?"  
For a moment, she was about to ask for help, but she steeled herself instead, "Whatever help you could have provided me, it probably would have been of no use," "Is this one of those reverse-psychology thingies?" he gave her an odd look, "Well, it ain't gonna work on me. Say all ya want now cause it's too late,"  
"Wait,"  
"Now what?"  
"Just humor me, then," she said, "What could you have done?"  
Ranma sighed, "I could have gotten rid of the pain for you...forever. Your ailment's pathetically easy to fix. A simple neck snap here. A pressure point push there. A back snap here. And you I'd've been finished. It would have taken two seconds and it would have probably changed the rest of your life. However, that's too late, so what's the use of my telling you," Naga let out an annoyed breath, "Fine, so be it. I didn't want your help anyway,"  
"That's good cause you ain't getting' it," he smirked in retort. He decided to be a bit merciful, "However, somewhere down the line, I'll offer my services again. Maybe you wouldn't be so distrustful then,"  
"For your information, I am distrustful because of the company I am with,"  
"The company you're with?" Ranma asked, "You're distrustful because of me? What the heck have I ever done that makes me a person that shouldn't be trusted?"  
"Not you," she said, "You're fine. I am merely talking about a certain red-  
haired magic user,"  
"Lina? You're saying that I shouldn't trust her?" he seemed genuinely surprised, "Why? She seems like a person to trust. She hasn't done anything that disappointed me,"  
Naga laughed, "How amusing. You actually believe she is a person to be trusted. This is the same girl that steals from people, run out of tavers rather than pay the bill, and attack even people as magnificent as myself while my back is turned,"  
"Well, I would disagree, but then again, I guess you know her better," he shrugged. There was a moment of awkward silence but it was broken when Lina, curious about what was going on up ahead, ran up to him and Naga.  
"Whatcha two talking about?" she asked.  
"I was just askin' her how I could go about making you fall in love with me," he replied with a grin.  
Lina blushed a deep shade of red, "W-what? Me?"  
Ranma then said, "Oh, I just realized something. You asked me to stop the teasing. Sorry. I forgot,"  
"Wait, so that means you were only teasing back there?" she asked.  
Ranma nodded, "Yeah, what else?" He leaned toward her, his eyes narrowing, "Waitaminute, didja actually think that I was asking her how I can go about making you fall in love with-"  
Lina quickly interrupted, "N-no! I-it's obvious that you don't know me that well. C'mon, let's get going. W-we're almost there,"  
She quickly ran up ahead.  
Emiko walked up to the confused Ranma, "What did you say to her? She seems pretty embarrassed about something,"  
"Oh, I just made a crack about my trying to get her to fall in love with me," he replied honestly, "And I think she really thought tha-"  
"What?" Emiko's eyes widened, "Why on Earth would you want someone like her to fall in love with you?"  
Ranma waved his hand, "Um, hello, Emi-chan. No need to jump to conclusions here,"  
Emiko glared at Ranma. She didn't seem all that upset now because she noticed Ranma wasn't calling her 'kinky ninja girl' anymore. Although 'Emi-chan' was a bit informal and too casual for her tastes, it was a step up from what he had previously called her.  
She relaxed a bit. She took a deep breath, "N-now why would you s-say something like that to her? A-afterall, you have me,"  
"Oh, lucky me, huh?" Ranma said sarcastically, "For you information, I was only teasing her. Jeez,"  
"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Emiko glared coldly at him. Although she hated him before, and then grew to only dislike him, and then eventually grew to mildly dislike him, he was now making her simply dislike him more.  
Ranma scratched his head, "What? Whatcha talking about? Are ya commenting about my saying 'Oh, lucky me,' or my telling you about my teasing Lina.  
"Lina? Why the heck are you calling her Lina now?" she asked angrily.  
"Huh?"  
"You used to call her 'lil miss magician' or variations of it," Emiko replied, "So why are you calling her by her name all of a sudden? Why are you calling her 'Lina' but are calling me 'Emi-chan'? You should at least call me 'Emiko',"  
Ranma rubbed his forehead, "This ain't happening. I'm not hearing this," He cleared his throat, "Lettme get this straight, you're mad at me because I'm calling Lina 'Lina' and calling you 'Emi-chan'?"  
"Yes,"  
Ranma smirked, "Hm, I wonder, could this be anger or perhaps, might I say, jealousy?"  
"What?"  
"Are you jealous that I called Lina by her name?"  
"There you go again! You called her Lina again!" Emiko shouted.  
"Are you drunk or something? What the heck's gotten into ya? You're making no sense," Ranma commented, "And what the heck am I havin' this conversation with ya anyway? How the heck did it move onto this subject in the first place?"  
Emiko let out an exassperated breath, "Well, if you don't know, then I'm not going to tell you,"  
"What kinda cryptic answer is that?" he said loudly, "We're not even a couple and you're talking like a girlfriend or wife would. Why dontcha go ask me if that outfit make ya look fat or something while you're at it?"  
"What? You think I'm fat?"  
Ranma piched the bridge of his nose, "This can't be happening," He let out a sigh and held his hand up and in front of Emiko and said, "Can ya do me a favor and just not open your mouth? It seems everytime you open it, it's to replace the other foot that had been in it previously,"  
"Why you!" she started to glow in fury, "How dare you say something like that to your wife!"  
Ranma started ripping his hair out, "What the heck's going on here? We're not married! Get it through yer pretty little head! We're not married!"  
Emiko blushed, her anger doing a complete one eighty and into embarrassment and shyness, "Y-you think I'm pretty? T-t-thank you,"  
At that moment, Naga walked up to Ranma, her hands pressing her breasts closer together to give herself even more cleavage, "I don't believe these are the cause of the pain,"  
"This can't be happenin' to me,"

Lina continued to walk alone. She had bothered to glance behind and saw Emiko and Ranma arguing. Whatever they had been arguing about, it must had been quite a debate. "Hmph, let them argue," she muttered to herself before continuing onwards.  
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her sister's restaurant just down the street. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized just how close she was to her sister's workplace.  
"Damn, w-we're already there," she said softly, reluctantly. She knew it was inevitable that they would reach Luna's workplace. However, she was hoping it wouldn't had been so soon. She had actually enjoyed her journey with Ranma and Emiko. Sure, Naga showing up was an unexpected turn of events and Emiko was a pain in the neck, but Lina didn't mind the trek here at all.  
"Damn, she's going to humiliate me," Lina said sullenly. Lina was dreading the thought of her older sister asking her a thousand and one questions on why her little doesn't have a boyfriend yet. And to make matters worse, Ranma was probably going to exacerbate the situation with his teasing comments. But then again, Ranma had promised not to tease her. "Waitaminute," Lina said, getting an idea, "Perhaps he can actually help..."  
Lina was startled when she felt a person's hand rest upon her shoulder from behind. Relying on instinct, she grabbed the wrist and attempted to shoulder throw her opponent. She was unable to execute the technique when she felt a hand pressed against the small of her back, preventing her from bending forward at the waist for added leverage.  
"Don't even think about it," came Ranma's voice.  
Lina quickly released her grip, turning to face him. He smiled slightly, "Besides, it would've came out all wrong and I would've only ended up on top of ya instead of on the ground by your feet,"  
"What do ya want, Ranma?"  
He ignored the question and asked, "So, is this your sister's workplace?"  
Lina nodded, "But that still doesn't answer my question,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Nothin' much. Naga's fondling her breasts and Emiko's acting all weird so I walked on ahead," He jerked a thumb over his shoulder and toward the two approaching girls. They seemed to be talking to each other, perhaps Naga asking advice on what she should do about her breasts.  
"So let me get this straight," Lina said wryly, "You find them weird so you're settling with me, huh?"  
"Bingo," he nodded, "You're currently the least weird of 'em all,"  
"Oh, I'm so flattered by that compliment," she said sarcastically, "And what makes you think I want your company anyway? I walked off on my own to get away from you in the first place,"  
Ranma smiled, "Yeah, but it was only out of anger. Five minutes should be enough time for ya to cool down by now,"  
"Hmph,"  
"What, that ain't enough?" he asked.  
"No, forget it. I have other things to worry about," she muttered. She wondered how she was going to go about bringing the subject up.  
"Oh, what could it be?"  
Knowing that she didn't have the social skills to subtly bring the subject up, Lina figured she might as well bring it out into the open.  
"I'd really like you to do me a favor," she asked.  
"Sure. What is it?" he asked. He found it rather endearing that Lina was finally opening herself up to ask him for a favor. She seemed to have been too prideful for that until now. Perhaps he was making her feel more comfortable around him.  
Lina took a deep breath. It's now or never, she thought. She opened her mouth and said, "I want you to be my boyfriend,"

New stuff 4/13

"D-did I hear that correctly? Y-you want me to be yer boyfriend?"  
Lina shook her head and said, "Not boyfriend for real. I just wantcha to pretend to be my boyfriend,"  
"Why?" he asked skeptically, "I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm flattered that you want me as your boyfriend and all-"  
Lina said defensively, "Will you quit it? It's all for a good reason. And for your information, I'm actually disgusted at the thought of having you as a boyfriend,"  
"Really?"  
Lina blushed slightly, "Um, I mean, that is...okay, maybe not disgusted...just depressed,"  
"Ouch,"  
Feeling a bit remorseful, she said, "No. It's not like that. I'm sure you'd be a great boyfriend, but, um, I'm too young for a boyfriend and all, what with the adventures I go on,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever. No need to feel sorry. Frankly, I'm not all that fond of the idea either. And speakin' of which, why the heck do I hafta be yer boyfriend?"  
"Well, that's pretty easy to explain," Lina slowly began.  
When she noticed Naga and Emiko getting close, she hesitated. She started playing with her hair, trying to think of the words to say. Ranma noticed this.  
"Me and Lina are havin' a private word here," Ranma said, "If ya don't mind,"  
"Actually-" Emiko began.  
"You don't mind," Ranma finished it for her, his eyes stern.  
Emiko let out an annoyed breath and walked off. Naga simply crossed her arms in front of her chest, a smirk on her face, daring Ranma to challenge her.  
"And if you don't I won't offer my services in the future if ya know what I mean?" he smirked.  
The muscles around Naga's jaw tightened. For Ranma to use that as his trump card must mean he could definitely help Naga out. It was best that she stayed on his good side.  
For a brief moment, Lina couldn't help but stare up at Ranma. She had to admire how authoritive Ranma could be. She wondered how she would react if Ranma was like to her. Would she crack like Emiko and Naga? And speaking of Naga...  
"What do you mean by not offering your services to Naga?" Lina eyed Ranma suspiciously.  
Ranma smiled, "That's for me and her to know and you to find out. Let's just say she's been seeking some relief that I can happen to provide,"  
Lina gasped as she realized what Ranma was talking about.  
Ranma narrowed his eyes, "You beter not be thinkin' what I think you're thinkin'"  
"Then what could it be, huh?" she asked, almost a bit angry for some reason.  
He shook a finger at her, "Well, whatever it is, it's none of yer business anyway,"  
"Hmph," she turned away from him.  
Ranma changed the subject by asking, "So, are ya gonna explain what's this business with my havin' to pretend I'm yer boyfriend?"  
"Forget I even asked," she said in a huff, "I'm no longer interested in having you as my boyfriend, even if it were pretend,"  
He thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever. No skin of my back,"  
He proceed to walk down the street toward the restaurant.  
"Wait," Lina reached out and grabbed one of Ranma's wrists. Ranma sighed, "Lina, look. Whatever it is, jus' lay it on me. Keep in mind that I would really like to go home. It doesn't help any that I don't even know if your sister could even help,"  
Lina said, "My sister will be able to help," She paused for a moment, "Okay, fine, here it is. Last year, I visted my sister and she constantly teased me...about not having a boyfriend. She said that if I were to visit her again, I had better have a boyfriend with me,"  
"Really, man, what kinda sister is that? I mean, you're her sister. Why would she make you do something like that?" he asked.  
Lina twiddled her thumbs for a minute before say, "Um, let's just say I tend to listen to her...because of what had happened when I was young...and naive," She hoped Ranma didn't bother to ask her on what. It would be embarrassing to explain that she had nearly been killed by her sister when Luna had found out that Lina was creating magical images of her taking a bath and charging a viewing fee. Ever since then, she feared and respected her older sister's wishes.  
Ranma said, "Well, whatever. I'm not even gonna ask why. Anyway, do you really think that that merits going through this pretend bit?" Lina nodded, "Yes, it'll be worth it,"  
Ranma smirked, "For yourself I assume. You jus' don't want your sister nagging you about not having a boyfriend and all,"  
Lina said nothing. Ranma had hit it right on the nail. She wasn't going to let it on that that was true though. She instead said, "Look, for your information, I can have a boyfriend if I want to-"  
"But you lead an whimsical life and never both to stay in one place for long, let alone meet someone," he finished for her, eyebrows raised.  
"Well, yeah, you can say that more or less," she nodded slightly, wondering how the heck Ranma could be so understanding and realize something like that so easily, "Also, I'm simply not interested,"  
Ranma smiled, "Yeah, that too," He was about to comment about perhaps Lina wanting to know how it really would be like to have him as a boyfriend but didn't say so. He had promised not to tease her afterall. Man, it was going to be hard no doing so.  
Lina said, "Anyway, if we do this, it'll benefit the both of us. My sister won't constantly nag me about the boyfriend bit, and she'll probably be more willing to help you simply out of obligation to helping her 'lil sister' out,"  
"You seem to be going through an aweful lot of trouble to help me out," he said, "I mean, you're willing to help me out, yet I still don't understand how this benefits you. This seems rather, selfless of you as a matter of fact, which is very unusual, right?"  
"Are you saying I'm selfish?" Lina shot Ranma a glance.  
"I don't think you could've put it more bluntly," he grinned.  
"Hmph, I'm merely that way because of the life I live," she said, "I learned to take care of myself first before anyone else,"  
Ranma sighed, "Lina, there's so much more to life than that," He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I'm not trying to lecture ya or nuthin', but perhaps one of these day you'll realize it's actually more gratifying to give than to receive,"  
Lina let out a laugh, "I'll take your word for it, but I have no intention of changing,"  
Ranma said, "Anyway, back to the subject. Fine, let's do this. I'll pretend I'm your boyfriend. However, what're we gonna do about Naga and Emiko?"  
"I recommend killing 'em and burying their bodies somewhere so they won't be able to make things more complicated or perhaps let it slip that we're pretending," Lina smirked.  
Ranma laughed, "Sorry, that's no good. Try again,"  
"You have any suggestions?"  
His eyes widened, "Wow, Lina's asking for my suggestions? How unlike her," He was about to say that perhaps his charm was starting to rub off on her but had decided not to tease her because of the promise.  
"Get on with it," she muttered.  
"Hey, Naga, Emi-chan," Ranma called out, "Can ya come over here, I wanna ask you two for a favor,"  
"What the hell are you doing?" Lina shouted, "You can't tell 'em. They're probably going to ruin the whole plan,"  
"Quit calling me Emi-chan," Emiko said as she approached Ranma, "And what do you want?"  
"What favor might you want?" Naga asked curiously, "And how will it benefit me if I accept?"  
Ranma looked at Naga, "Well, with you, I know you're simply gonna agree to help because you believe that if you help me, I'll help you back, hee hee, that was a pun,"  
Lina and Emiko looked at each other.  
Naga nodded reluctantly, "Very well, what is this you ask of me?"  
Ranma turned toward Emiko, "Well, I might as well say it. I'm gonna pretend I'm Lina's boyfriend-"  
"What?" she interrupted.  
He continued on, "And if ya don't like it, tough shit,"  
He crossed his hands in front of his chest, waiting for Emiko to say something in protest so that he could retort. He was a bit surprised when she just looked up at him.  
"Um, is there a r-reason for this?" she asked, almost timidly.  
Ranma initially felt the yearning to be more authoritive and not tell her. But because she seemed almost afraid to have asked, his visage became soft as he said in a gentle voice, "Yeah, actually, it's simply to help get me in good with her sister. That way, there's a more likely chance she'll help me out if I were a boyfriend of her sister's instead of some stranger seeking her help,"  
"That's it?" Emiko asked.  
Ranma nodded, "That's all,"  
Lina gazed at Ranma. That was very thoughtful of him to leave her being teased by Luna out of his reply. She had never realized this before, but Ranma could be very considerate without even realizing it. Perhaps that was one of his endearing qualities. Wait! Why the heck was she thinking that? This is Ranma afterall, the same jerk who teased her every bit of the trip and bugged the hell out of her! But he was also the same person who willingly gave her money and paid for her meals and stay at hotels...  
Emiko thought about it for a moment, "That doesn't seem right. Why would she help you out all of a sudden? She would only do something if it benefits her in the long run,"  
Ranma turned toward Lina a grin on his face and said, "Would you like to answer that?"  
"Hmph, forget I thought those things," she muttered.  
"What was that?" he asked.  
"Oh nothing," she quickly replied. She cleared her throat, "As a matter of fact, yeah, there is a reason for it. I just wanna see the pissed off expression on your face when you realize that you can't do anything about it,"  
"Why you!" Emiko shouted, her anger rising.  
Lina laughed, "Yep, that's the one that makes it all worthwhile,"  
Ranma grinned, "Ooh, a catfight,"  
"Hmph," Emiko turned her back toward Lina and Ranma, "And just what makes you think I'm going to stand idle and let this happen?"  
Ranma took his turn to say, "Because if you don't, I'll find another way home, and you're not coming with me so you'll be stuck here...and having to go through seppukku,"  
"You wouldn't," Emiko challenged him.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe. Maybe not. Care to gamble? I'm sure that I'd be plenty angry having to stay here more time than there needs to be all because someone made it that way, and especially angry at that person in general,"  
Emiko was silent. Ranma wouldn't be so cruel. He wasn't that kind of person. She knows him, and he would never let her committ seppukku. He wouldn't let her go through with the tradition of killing herself if she failed to marry the one person that had unmasked them, that she was meant to marry. Would he?  
Ranma, noticing this questioning look in her eyes and the thoughts seemingly running through her head, sighed and said, "Emiko, please, just do me this favor,"  
There was a long moment of silence. After a minute or so, she smiled, a sense of happiness and relief in her eyes, as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.  
Ranma had finally called her by her full name.  
"Very well,"

Ranma and the other three females stood in front of Luna's workplace. The restaurant was a rather large building with double doors for an entrance. The building looked to be around a hundred years old yet every bit as sturdy and well built as newer buildings. There were windows lining the front and side, the busy inside easily seen through those large panes of glass.  
"So this is the place," Ranma commented, "We finally made it. It feels like it took nearly forever to get here,"  
"Well, we have been travelling for a while," Emiko agreed, "We've been travelling for what, a month or so?"  
"Yeah, somewhere around there," Ranma nodded, "However, it didn't feel like I've been here for so long," He smiled, "Maybe it's because of the interesting company I'm with that makes the time fly, ne?"  
"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Emiko asked.  
Ranma smiled, "No need to get offended or nothing. It's supposed to be a compliment. I was merely stating that because of you guys, I was enjoying the moment more than worrying about the time that have passed. That's all,"  
Emiko blushed slightly, "Oh. Well, you're welcome then,"  
"Well, you ready to go in?" Lina asked, taking a deep breath. She was a bit nervous. She hadn't been here in about a year.  
Ranma held up a finger, "Oh, before I forget, I wanna make one thing clear,"  
"What?" Lina's face sullened. She knew there had to be a catch.  
"Well, since I'm gonna be pretending the role of the boyfriend, I should at least be able to act the role of the boyfriend," he said.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I should be able to tease ya like a real boyfriend could," he grinned.  
Lina sighed. She had liked it when Ranma didn't tease her and ruffle her feathers. However, it did feel a bit odd when she expected to be teased by him only to find out that he didn't go through with it and kept his promise.  
"I knew it was too good to be true," she commented.  
Ranma smiled, "Perhaps,"  
"And if I say no?" she asked.  
Ranma scratched his head, "Hm, actually, I never thought of that,"  
"Fine," she said reluctantly, "I know I'm gonna probably regret it, but for some reason it feels weird when you're not making those almost infuriating comments like you always do,"  
Ranma smiled happily, "I'm glad you see it my way. Besides, it'll make our time here all the more amusing. Afterall, that probably helped pass the time since we seemed to be constantly arguing instead of trying to avoid conversing,"  
"Whatever," Lina shrugged her shoulder, "Let's just go in,"  
Ranma smiled, "All right,"  
As Ranma and Lina entered, Emiko and Naga following behind, Emiko glaring at Ranma, Ranma took it upon himself to take advantage of being able to tease Lina once again.  
"Hey, Lina, as the boyfriend, I can slip ya some tongue, ne?"

Luna sighed as she went about waiting on tables. The day had been a rough one. And to make matters worse, it was only the halfway over. She still had several more hours left before she could head home and get some sleep, only to do it all over again the next day.  
A beautiful woman such as Luna Inverse shouldn't be waiting tables day and night. She could be roaming the land like her younger sister, Lina, but had chosen to live a more domestic life. Over the years, she had finally started to dread her job, yearning to live the adventurous life like Lina. It was really dull here at her job. It was the same thing day in and day out. Nothing exciting ever happened. The last thing exciting that had happened was about a year when her younger sister had visited and had made huge scene when someone had commented that she couldn't be Luna's sister because of the obvious bust size difference.  
Luna smiled. That had been a fun day. She had came to her sister's aide in dispatching those rouges by turning them into slugs. Of course, Lina's reaction to the slugs had made the scene all the more funny as she tried to step on them. It had ended when Luna had turned those rouges back into humans and told them to leave and never come back again. That whole scene had somehow brought her and Lina closer together.  
"Excuse me, but may I have another mug of ale?" a patron asked. The man was a young man. A bit handsome if it weren't for the fact that he needed a shave badly. He was new there.  
"All right, I'll be right with you," she said. She felt a bit annoyed. Many handsome men came to this tavern, all of them hoping to win her heart since she was considered one of the countries most beautiful and powerful woman. It only took Luna a minute to fetch the mug for the patron. Bringing it back, the man smiled warmly at her and said, "Say, you wouldn't happen to be free real soon, would you?"  
"Don't even think about it," she replied with annoyance. Although she was a really warm and caring person, she was like an ice queen to people interested in her because she knew they were only interested in her because of her body and the prestige she held of being the world's most powerful magic user. Perhaps it was the thought of taming someone like her that attacted such men...usually scum at that.  
Luna sighed when she heard the front door open. Another customer to wait on. Most likely another male to hit on her.  
She was pleasantly surprised to see Lina entering. Following behind her was perhaps one of the most handsome man she had ever seen. She didn't recognize the two girls following closely behind.  
"H-hi, sis," Lina said a bit nervously.  
Luna walked across the room and toward her sister. When one of the patrons asked for service, she told them to be quiet and wait like all the others. It wasn't as if they were going to complain simply out of fear and the knowledge that this restaurant served the greatest food on the continent.  
Luna smiled, "Lina, it's been a while,"  
Luna was only slightly taller than Lina, but not by much. The looked very similar save for some differences. Luna was more well endowed and had cut her hair to shoulder length. Where Lina was pretty look to her, Luna was just sexy. Perhaps it was the air of dormant omnipotence that surrounded her that made her seem so.  
Lina was surprised when Luna embraced her in a hug. She meekly returned the embrace.  
"How's everything going?" Lina asked.  
"Everything's fine. And yourself?"  
"Just fine," she replied, releasing her embrace of Lina. She glanced past her and up toward Ranma as he stood behind her.  
Ranma smiled and bowed politely, "Hello, I'm Ranma Saotome. It's nice to meetcha,"  
Luna smiled, "Hello, I'm Luna Inverse,"  
Ranma turned toward Lina, "Wow, yer sister's got breasts much bigger than yours. What gives? What happened to you?"  
"What?" Lina shouted.

new stuff 4/15

"So, how have you and my sister met?" Luna asked curiously. She had her elbows on the table, the image giving her an almost school-like look to it. She had finished her meal first while Ranma and Lina kept on eating, Lina obviously enjoying the advantage of her sister being allowed free meal at her place of work.  
Naga and Emiko were also eating for free, but at another table. Lina had insisted and they had reluctantly agreed.  
Ranma stopped his eating and turned toward Lina, "Would you like tell or should I?"  
Lina thought about it for a moment. She started to get a bit nervous when she realized just she hadn't thought about this boyfriend bit all the way through. She and Ranma should had at least made up a story that they could both stick to so Luna wouldn't become suspicious if their tales because inconsistent.  
"All right, I'll tell her," Ranma smiled.  
Luna gazed intently on Ranma, "Go on,"  
Ranma leaned back in his chair and said, "We met about a month ago or so ago, Lina and I met each other for the first time. Unfortunately, I made a very very bad first impression on her,"  
"What happened?" Luna asked.  
"Well, I hope you don't think I'm crazy, but I'm not from this world," he said, wondering if that statement would interest Luna enough to ask about it and perhaps making it easier for him to ask for her help from out of the blue. However, her reaction was less than what he hoped for.  
She said, "Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I know a few people from different worlds also. Go on. What happened? What did you do that made this supposedly horrible first impression,"  
Ranma sighed slightly, wishing Luna had expressed a bit more interest in where he was from. Perhaps another day he would bring it up and slowly veer the conversation of her perhaps helping him. For now, he would simply weave the most believeable story he could.  
"Well," he began, smiling meekly at Lina for dramatic effect before turning back to her older sister and saying, "Lina was taking a dip in the hot spring,"  
Lina's widened. What the hell was Ranma doing? He was supposed to be making up some kind of story on how they met.  
Ranma continued on, "Well, she didn't take it too lightly and actually tried to do me some serious bodily harm when she thought I was some peeping tom. However, before she could do anything, I managed to run away,"  
"For your information," Lina glared, "You duped me into becoming distracted when you commented about my breasts," She had wanted to get back at Ranma for that. She had been meaning to talk to him about that foul trick of his, to making her become flushed with embarrassment and then using that so-called 'Saotome Secret Technique' to make her go into the defensive, only to run away while she did so. A moment later, Lina's eyes widened. Did she just say that out loud?  
Ranma smiled, "Well, if you think back, the comment I made was a compliment. I had said 'Your breasts are fine' when you thought I had said something else,"  
Lina blushed. She definitely recalled Ranma having said that.  
"Hmph, you were only saying that," Lina snorted, unaware that Luna was still there listening.  
Ranma grinned, "Well, whatever the case, I'm not gonna letcha know if I was telling the truth or not. Perhaps I was saying what you wanted to hear, or perhaps I was saying what I believed was true,"  
Luna smiled, "This is great. You two bicker like you're already married,"  
"We're not married!" Lina said quickly, her face flushed.  
"Relax," Ranma smiled a bit mischieviously, "Lettme continue my story,"  
"Yes, please do," Luna nodded, enjoying the story very much.  
"Lina was pretty angry at me," he said, "Of course, wouldn't ya be angry if some stranger accidentally pops in on ya and sees ya naked during your dip in the hot springs? Well, Lina was obviouslly angry at me and followed me as I ran away. She used that levitation spell of hers...what was it? I think it's called Ray Wing, right? I dunno if that's the right name since I know nothin' about magic and how it works, but I know Lina likes that spell a lot Luna nodded, "Yes. It's Ray Wing. That's pretty good that you can remember what spells Lina likes to use, especially if you don't care anything about magic,"  
Lina was very silent. That was true. She did like using Ray Wing a lot and it would be rather odd that someone would notice this. To a non magic user, all spells looked the same, no matter what the application. She never expected Ranma to notice something like this about her.  
"Well, Lina caught up with me," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "I guess I should't've bothered tryin' to run away but what did I know. I didn't know what Lina had been capable of at the time,"  
"Yes, go on," Luna continued to listen intently.  
Ranma said, "Lina was very very angry at me and basically dead. She kept throwing fireballs and fire arrows at me, but luckily, I was able to dodge 'em. I had some training in martial arts,"  
"Martial arts?" Luna looked at Ranma curiously.  
"It's kinda hard to explain," he replied, "It's basically an art where you are skilled at close combat. The training made me pretty quick on my feet,"  
"All right," Luna said, "I guess I understand. This martial arts stuff you know must have made you agile and capable of dodging my sister's projectiles,"  
Ranma nodded, "That's correct. Well, I managed to dodge Lina's attacks...until she got serious,"  
"Oh?" Lina and Luna said at once. Lina was also interested because she had forgotten what she had done. That had been a while ago. What had she done?  
Ranma cupped his hand near his waist and then extended them forward, mimicking one of Lina's most powerful spells and said, "She unleashed her Dragon Slave on me,"  
"Yeah," Lina smirked, remember having done that, "You deserved it. If was enjoyable seeing the expression on your face when you had realized the projectile was too large to dodge, let alone outrun,"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I guess I got off lucky because she went easy on me and didn't cast a Dragon Slave far more powerful than what she was capable of,"  
"H-how'd you know?" Lina's eyes widened. Ranma pointed at Lina, this happy expression on his face, "Ah hah! I was only guessing! Now I know that you did go easy on me!" He leaned in close to her, a smirk on his lips, "Now why would a girl hell-bent on doing me serious bodily harm go easy on me unless she didn't hate my guts as much as she pretended she did?"  
Lina's face became bright red and she shouted, "Y-you're wrong! Um, I was not g-going easy on you! I was, um, merely allowing you to, um, stay alive so that I could, um, torture you,"  
Ranma leaned back in his chair, still smiling as he said sarcastically, "Sure you were,"  
"Why you!" Lina started to get angry.  
"Such a lovely couple," Luna couldn't help but comment, sighing. She knew they were only play fighting. Afterall, a relationship filled with colorful dialogue was destined to last.  
Lina let out a breath in contempt, "Hmph,"  
Ranma grinned, "That's my Lina. That's what I find so great about you, the way you can get so wrapped up and emotional about something,"  
Lina gave Ranma an odd look. Was he lying to keep the tale going or saying something sincere? She opened her mouth to ask but realized asking something like that wasn't possible, not with Luna sitting right next to them.  
"So what happened after she casted her Dragon Slave?" Luna asked.  
Ranma chuckled, "Well, I was knocked unconsious. And when I woke up-"  
"And when you woke up?" Luna hung Ranma's every word.  
"I was tied up with ropes and Lina was sleeping next to me," he said matter-  
of-factly.  
"What?" Luna gasped, "R-really?" She turned toward her sister, "Why did you tie him up? Why were you sleeping with him?" Her eyes narrowed, "You weren't doing what I think you were, were you?"  
"O-of course not!" Lina shouted, flustered beyond belief, "I tied him up because he had dodged and stood up to my fireballs! No one had dodged them, let alone brush them aside after being hit by 'em! I wanted to ask him questions and had tied him up so he wouldn't run away like he did before!"  
Luna crossed her arms in front of her chest, "So what's this with Ranma waking up and finding you sleeping with him?"  
"Um, er, t-that I can explain," Lina said. She glared at Ranma, "Do ya hafta give her all the details of how we met? Jeez!" Ranma simply grinned as Lina turned back to her sister and said, "Um, I must've gotten uncomfortable sleeping next to him and must've twisted and turned in my sleep until I came upon a position that was comfortable...w-which happened to h-have been s-s-snuggling against Ranma,"  
"Why were you sleeping next to him to begin with?" Luna asked, eyes narrowing.  
"W-we were sleeping in a barn. I had tied him up and was waiting for him to wake up after getting knocked out by my Dragon Slave," she replied meekly, "I m-  
must've dozed off waiting for him,"  
Luna smirked, "Hm, that seems unlikely of you, Lina,"  
"W-hat do you mean?" Lina asked nervously.  
"Well, you would usually be inconsiderate and simply splash some freezing cold water on him to wake him up instead of let him remain asleep," Luna replied, knowing full well that that would had been exactly what Lina would had done.  
Ranma's eyebrows raised, "Oh really. My my, this is interesting. How thoughtful and considerate of you to let me remain asleep instead of waking me up with a shock,"  
Lina blushed yet again, "T-t-that's not t-true! Um, I would had s-splashed cold w-water on you, b-but-"  
"But what?" he smiled.  
"But, um, I had b-been tired at t-the time," she replied.  
Ranma grinned, "That's strange. If I recall, you just said that you had tied me up and was waiting for me to wake up after getting knocked out by yer Dragon Slave and must've dozed off waiting for me. You had mentioned waiting for me to awaken not once but twice in the same paragraph,"  
Lina's jaw muscles tightened. She quickly calmed herself down and said, "Well, I guess from time to time even I can be a bit considerate for a change. I felt...I felt like acting out of character at the time. There, ya happy?" Ranma smiled, "Nah. I'll just go on thinking that you had a thing for me and wanted to be nicer for a change,"  
"Go on thinking that, but it's untrue," she retorted in supposed contempt. She didn't dare make eye contact or Ranma though when she said it. Saying something like that while making eye contact would had been too hard.  
"Look into my eyes and say that," Ranma grinned.  
Lina nearly fell out of her chair. She slammed her hand on the table, "I will not!"  
As the tension seemed to get thicker and thicker between Lina and Ranma, Luna seemed to interrupt at the right moment at the right time with the wrong comment.  
"Lina, I can't believe it. Ranma seems to know you really well to be able to push your buttons so easily," she smiled warmly, giving Lina's arm a playful punch.  
"Hmph!"  
Luna turned toward Ranma, "So, please, go on. This is really really interesting,"  
"Does he hafta?" Lina whined, "I-it's not all that interesting,"  
Luna shook her head, "I'll be the judge of that,"  
"Y-yes," Lina said meekly.  
When Ranma noticed Luna nodding for him to go on and continue, he said, "Where was I? Oh yeah. I managed to break out of the ropes. Just before I was about make yet another break for it-"  
"What makes you say you were gonna make a break for it?" Lina snapped, "You attacked me! The last thing I remember after seeing that cat with that mouse in its mouth was you lunging at me,"  
"Did you do that?" Luna asked Ranma.  
"Hey, what the heck do ya question what I say yet take it as a given when Ranma does the speaking?" Lina said in an almost pouty voice.  
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Luna smirked a bit.  
"Um, forget it," Lina muttered. It was true. Considering the kind of person Lina was, even she herself would have trouble believing her own words.  
Ranma cleared his throat, "Um, well, that could be explained,"  
"Yeah, please do," Lina glared at Ranma. She had always wondered why Ranma had lunged at her so suddenly. "Actually, if ya really want to know," he smiled, "I thought that cat was something else, a rabid raccoon, and had lunged toward you to push you away after you had screamed, but in the process, I had tripped and our heads bumped and you got knocked out. I guess I was a bit clumsy,"  
Luna's eyes became a bit glassy, "How romantic,"  
"What? The scream you heard was your own!" Lina sneered, "It must've been a battle cry or something! And don't use that stupid clumsy excuse. You are anything but clumsy. And for your information, you are probably the most well coordinated and graceful person I had ever met so there was no way you could had supposedly tripped,"  
Ranma smiled, "You really think so? You really think I'm well-coordinated and graceful? Thank you for the compliment,"  
"Argh, it wasn't supposed to be a compliment!" Lina shouted, slamming an open hand on the table, "It had come out during the spur of the moment! I would never say something like that in front of you!"  
"Well, obviously you did because I sure heard it," Ranma smiled. He turned toward Luna, "How about you? Did you hear it?"  
Luna nodded, "I sure did,"  
Lina clenched her hands into fist, fighting this overwhelming urge to shoot a Draon Slave at Ranma. She twitched a bit as she stood up and asked, "R-Ranma, m-may I have a private w-word with you?" She wanted to talk to Ranma in private about what he was doing. He was supposed to be making up a story on how they met, not retelling it...and at her expense. She had never been so embarrassed in her entire life.  
Ranma nodded, "Sure, but lettme finish the story first,"  
"W-why you!" she muttered silently to herself, barely able to keep a calm-like fascade as she sat back down.  
He turned back toward Luna, "Anyway, Lina was accidentally knocked unconsious so I felt obligated to help her out. I took her to a motel,"  
"A motel? Why? Why didn't you take her to a healer or something?" Luna asked, ner eyes narrow.  
Ranma gave a weak smile and said, "Well, I hadn't been aware of there being healers and white mages and all. I figured all she needed was a rest. That's why I took her to a motel. And while I was there, I took advantage of her...afterall, that's what motels are for,"  
"You did what?" Lina's eyes widened, shooting up to her feet.  
Luna gave Ranma a playful punch and said, "Enough with the joking around. Go on. So what happened after you took her to the motel?" She liked Ranma a lot. It was very easy to tell when he was lying or not. For some reason, there was something about him that made her trust him unconditionally.  
Lina's jaw dropped, "W-what makes you t-think he's joking a-around? H-he could be telling the truth for all I know! I w-was unconsious at the t-time!"  
"C'mon," Luna shook her head, "It's obvious he's just joking around. Go on, Ranma, tell her,"  
"I was only joking around," he said with a warm smile, knowing that something as serious as this would probably not be taken lightly. That was why his visage showed absolute sincerity.  
Unfortunately, Lina still wasn't buying it and said, "I don't believe you! Look into my eyes and say so!"  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "All right. If it'll make ya sleep better," He leaned forward and looked directly into Lina's eyes, "Lina, I was only joking around,"  
Lina looked for several moments before her gut instinct told her that he was telling the truth. Her gut instinct was never wrong. Actually, that was untrue. It's just that her gut instinct seemed to be less wrong than her actual self-  
conscious judgment.  
"Fine, I believe you," she muttered, "But who knows. For all I know, you could've groped me while I was asleep,"  
Ranma smiled, "No. I didn't," He allowed her to gaze into his eyes and show that he was telling the truth when he said that. After a moment, as he was about to lean back into his chair, Ranma's eyes narrowed as he continued to gaze at Lina.  
"What?" Lina asked, a bit self-consious of herself, "Why're you looking at me like that?"  
Ranma looked like he was looking deeply into her eyes, so deep that it seemed as if he could see her very sould. She turned her gaze away, unable to stand his piercing gaze.  
"Well I'll be damned," he smirked, "You're afraid of slugs,"

"I can see basically anything and everything about you and your personality," he shrugged his shoulders. He and Lina were standing outside Luna's restaurant. Naga and Emiko were still inside.  
Lina looked down at the ground, "Y-you're kiddin', right?"  
"Nope," he said, proceeding to draw a circle in the dirt with his foot.  
"H-how much can you see?" she asked.  
"From what I saw during those few seconds," he grinned, "You're wearing pinky panties, you had a craving for some strawberrys, your left hand had been stinging you when you had slammed it on the table, you used to travel with this guy named Gourry before you turned eighteen and realized that you were no longer a little girl and that his looking over you was no longer need, and last but not least...um...forget it,"  
Lina was in a state of speechlessness. That was impossible. Ranma must know some form of telepathy and was pretending he was able to tell one's secrets through looking into their eyes. That had to be it.  
"What am I thinking?" she asked quickly.  
"How the heck should I know?" came a reply.  
"Forget it," she said with a bit of relief. When a moment of awkward silence ensued, Lina, wanting to break it, said, "Um, so, what was that last thing you were going to say before you said forget it?"  
Ranma shook his head, "Nothing. Don't worry about it,"  
"C'mon, tell me," she said, "I'd like to know. That way, I wouldn't be wondering what it was after we go back inside,"  
Ranma shook his head, "Don't worry about it. It's nothing,"  
"C'mon,"  
He turned toward her, "Ya really wanna know?"  
Lina's heart skipped a beat. She wondered if it really was wise of her to know what Ranma was about to say. Perhaps the saying 'ignorance is bliss' would hold true. Unfortunately, her curiosity got the better of her rather than her sense of caution.  
"Yeah, what was it you were going to say?"  
Ranma smirked, "Okay. When you had that erotic dream of me last night-  
"Forget I asked!"

"So where were we?" Ranma asked as he sat back down at the table.  
Lina slapped her forehead in disgust. She had totally forgotten to mention that she didn't want Ranma explaining more of their encounter to her sister when they had had that private moment together. She had been meaning to do that and ask about how Ranma knew she was terrified of slugs. It was too bad she only managed to do one of the two tasks.  
"You had taken to Lina to the motel after she had accidentally been knocked unconscious," Luna recalled for him.  
"Oh yeah, now I remember," he smiled, "At the motel, Lina woke up and was pretty pissed at me. I, too, had tied her up. I wanted to get back at her because she tied me up first,"  
"I guess that sounds reasonable. An eye for an eye," Luna commented.  
"Yeah, and speaking of which, I'll get to that," Ranma laughed a bit, "Anyway, after Lina woke up, she used some spell to get free from the ropes. She was plenty pissed about that so he tried to kill me once again. She ended up blowing up the motel we were in,"  
"That's Lina all right," Luna shook her head with a sigh, "She usually blows up building by accident, sometimes even towns,"  
Lina turned her head in annoyance, "If Ranma hadn't ducked when I shot that fireball..."  
Ranma laughed, "Sure, like I'm gonna stand there and let that fireball hit me. And for your information, the fireball that did manage to hit me was the one that blew up the building,"  
"Lina's projectiles do tend to be a bit on the powerful side," Luna shrugged, "Sometimes she goes overboard on the powerlevels,"  
Lina said nothing.  
"After we managed to compose ourselves," he continued on, "I finally decided to ask her exactly what the hell she was pissed at me for. Well, it turns out that besides her being curious of me knowing martial arts, a technique she had never seen before I guess, she was also pissed at our initial encounter,"  
"When you dropped in on her when she was bathing?" Luna said.  
"Yep," he nodded in aggreement, "So, since she was pissed at me, I figured since I saw her naked, she might as well see me naked. 'An eye for and eye' as you so put it,"  
Luna and Lina blushed. Luna cleared her throat, "A-and?"  
"And what else, I took off my clothes," he said matter-of-factly.  
"Y-y-you did?" Luna's eyes widened, her mouth agape, "My, this is really really really interesting," She looked at Lina, "So what did you do?"  
"Are you going to ask something like 'Is that true?' instead of taking it as the truth?" Lina crossed her arms over her chest.  
"So, what did you do?" Luna asked once again.  
Lina gulped and said, "Um, I-I burned his clothes,"  
"Whoa, you burned his clothes?" Luna asked.  
Ranma took it upon himself to interrupt, "Lina was really really embarrassed and had thought I had gone through and taken all my clothes off,"  
"Oh, you didn't take all of your clothes off?" Luna asked.  
"Don't sound disappointed or nothing," he said, "Of course not. I only stripped down to my boxers. Anyway, Lina had turned around out of embarrassment,"  
"No! I didn't turn around out of embarrassment! I was m-merely turning around out of courtesy!" she quickly said.  
Ranma grinned, "Hm, that seems unlike you, Lina, turning around out of courtesy,"  
"All right! I turned around outta embarrassment!" Lina said in frustration, knowing she shouldn't even try and deceive Ranma verbally.  
He said, "Well, when she turned back around to take a peek-"  
"I did not turn around to take a peek!" Lina sneered, "You had put your hand on my shoulder and that had made me instinctively turn around. When I did, you did that stupid grin of yours and said something along the lines of 'Gotcha',"  
Ranma scratched his chin, "Gee, I don't recall it going that way. Well, whatever. Anyway, she was really really pissed about my bluff so she burned my clothes,"  
"Yeah," Lina smiled happily, "And you definitely deserved it,"  
Ranma shrugged, "I guess. But then that would mean you deserved it when I ripped your clothes off," He smirked as he kept his gaze on her, wondering how she was going to respond.  
"You ripped Lina's clothes off?" Luna stared at Ranma.  
Ranma smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I wanted to get back at her...that and see once again what I had seen the first day I met her. Of course, I left her some form of modesty. She ended up only in her bra and panties,"  
"And for that, you should had died," Lina sneered, her anger rising.  
"Why would I die seeing you in your bra and panties?" he asked curiously, "I've seen you in less, afterall,"  
"Not that, you fool! I'm talking about how you should die for having done that!" Lina spat.  
"So what happened after she burned your clothes and you ripped off hers?" Luna asked almost impatiently.  
Ranma laughed, "Well, at that moment, the guy who owns the motel, the same motel Lina here had accidentally destroyed-"  
"Because you couldn't take it like a man and get blown out through the window like a normal person," Lina snorted coldly, "No, you had constantly dodge my fireblass which prompted me use a larger one so you wouldn't be able to dodge it...which inevitably led to the motel's destruction after you got hit by it,"  
Ranma laughed like a maniac, "This is great! She's trying to make it my fault that she destroyed the motel! What's with you women? You always find ways to make it the guy's fault in any situation!"  
"You should watch what you're saying," Luna cautioned Ranma, "I'm also a woman,"  
"It is your fault, Ranma!" Lina said, "Just the very fact that you're a male automatically makes you at fault with any and every situation when a female is involved!"  
"W-w-w-what?" Ranma stammered, "What the hell are you on? Does casting magic make you lose brain cells or somethin'? How the hell is it always the guy's fault? I supposed you women having the menstral cycle is a guy's fault also?"  
"Damn straight," Lina argued, totally unaware of just how much they had digressed from the main subject, "Think about it. Why do you think it's called menstral cycle? It's not a coicidence that it starts with 'men',"  
Ranma fell out of his seat, "What kinda insane logic is that? From my experience, females are universally insane!"  
"Watch it, Ranma," Luna warned him.  
"Present company excluded," he added.  
Luna smiled, "All right,"  
Ranma glared at Lina, a grin on his lips, "Fine, ya wanna play it that way? Then what about herpies? I guess it isn't a coincidence that it starts with 'her',"  
"You're an idiot!" Lina muttered, "It's harpies, not herpies!"  
"No! Not those creatures with the female top half and an eagle-like bottom half," Ranma said in annoyance, "I'm talking about something totally different!"  
"Well, whatever 'herpies' is, it doesn't exist on this world," Lina commented, "As well as this so called 'ki' bit and 'martial arts',"  
Ranma sighed, "Forget it. Why am I not surprised? I believe there's gotta be some unseen force acting against me...I'm sure of it,"  
"You're just paranoid," Lina commented.  
"I am not. There's some force out there acting against me," he said emphatically.  
"What do you mean?" Luna asked curiously.  
"Here, I'll prove it," he said. He stood up in his seat and said in a loud loud voice, "Everyone, I would like to have your attention,"  
The entire restaurant quieted down, everyone turning their attention toward him, even Emiko and Naga.  
Ranma looked down at Lina and Luna and said, "Check this out and see if I'm paranoid,"  
In a loud voice, Ranma said, "I am in love with someone and I want all of you to know,"  
Emiko and Lina's eyes widened. Naga seemed mildly interested. Luna seemed starry eyed. How romantic of him to proclaim his love.  
Ranma cleared his throat, "The woman I am in love with is named-"  
At that moment, a live chicken flew in through an open window and hit Ranma on the side of the head. He was knocked off his chair where he fell off and onto the floor.  
Ranma had luckily managed to grab the chicken before it got away. He stood up up and laughed like he had just lost his mind or perhaps seen something that defied comprehsion.  
"Y'see?"

New stuff 5/19

Ranma and the others entered Luna's home. Luna lived in a home located near the outskirts of town with nearly a half mile of open field in all direction. It was an extravagant home that seemed a bit too large for a single person to live in. It was more along the lines of a family home, not some bachelorette pad.  
"It's peaceful here," Luna replied to Ranma's query to her choice of location for a home.  
Ranma whistled, "Wow, I never knew a waitress could afford something like this,"  
Lina punched Ranma in the arm, "Ranma,"  
"What? What did I say?" he looked confused.  
Lina sighed, "Forget it,"  
Luna laughed slightly, "For you information, I'm a pretty good waitress and you'll be surprised how much I get in tips. However, waitressing isn't my only job,"  
Ranma looked around the living room, the first room they all entered upon entering the home. It had a lonely feel to it. The couch in the corner looked like no one had ever sat in it, there for decorative sake. The fireplace, however, looked like it had been used on a daily basis since it was built along with the home.  
"I'm rarely home," Luna commented, noticing Ranma's unspoken question, "As a matter of fact, aside from my sister here, no one else has ever been to my home before,"  
Ranma shrugged. He walked over toward the corner of the room where he spotted a large book resting on a small coffee table. It was just sitting there. It looked out of place.  
"No! Don't touch that!" Luna quickly said.  
He had already reached down and tried to pick up the book, only to have the book flash a brilliant shade of yellow before an massive bolt of lightning shot out and shruck Ranma in the chest. He was left unscathed due to his AT field kicking into action. The livingroom flickered between shades of yellow and red as the lightning jolt continuously stuck against the AT field.  
He quickly released the book, the book's protection spell doing its job correctly.  
He said, "Man, what gives? I was only curious,"  
"Um, the book is protected by several spells," Luna said, wondering if she should ask Ranma if her were all right, "It's to prevent anyone from stealing it,"  
"Why? What is it anyway?"  
"It's my spell book," she replied, "It's all the spells I have learned, developed, and created over my lifetime,"  
"Really?" Lina's eyes widened, "Can I take a look at it?"  
"No," Luna said without pause, "The spells in this book should never be learned by anyone because the power could could easily lead to corruption or misused. And before you say anything, Lina, I know of your lil misadventures. I bet you're scheming of ways to abuse whatever spells there could be within the book,"  
Lina sighed. If there was a protection spell only half as effective as the one Luna had put on the spellbook, Lina might've had the chance to break through that barrier and take a glance. However, with this protective barrier, she wasn't going to get through.  
Ranma seemed uninterested, "Whatever. However, dontcha think puttin' some kinda protective barrier is a bit extreme?"  
Luna shook her head, "Not in the slightest,"  
"Hm, I guess ya might have a point," he nodded, "It'll probably be pretty chaotic if anyone learned one of 'em heavy-duty spells and goes around blowing stuff up,"  
"You catch on quick," Luna smiled warmly.  
A moment later, the room flickered yellow. A yelp could also be heard echoing through the house.  
Everyone turned around toward the spellbook where they saw Naga in a crumpled mess by the base of the coffeetable. She was twitching, her outfit scorched black, her hair singed.  
"Are you stupid?" Lina said, "Didn't you see what had happened a second ago? It's not like the spell cast on it was going to just disappear after one use. Jeez,"  
"I-I-I couldn't h-h-help myself!" Naga stammered.  
"It must be like milk that's gone bad," Ranma commented, "Ya know it's gone bad, but you can't help yourself and take a sniff,"  
"What kinda demented analogy is that?" Lina turned toward him.  
Ranma gave a weak smile.  
"Follow me," Luna said, heading out of the livingroom, "I'll show you the guestrooms where you can stay for the night,"  
Ranma, Emiko, and Lina followed after Luna. Naga stayed where she was opting not to move, at least not for a while or until she healed.  
Luna showed the three of them the where the guestroom was. Unfortunately, there were only two rooms.  
"There's only two rooms but there's four of us...if you can count Naga as a person," Lina commented.  
"That's easy," Luna said, "You and Ranma could share one room while Emiko and Naga could share another,"  
Lina blushed slightly, "Um,"  
Ranma placed a hand on Lina's shoulder from behind, a smile on his lips, "Well, we don't have any problems in that, now do we?"  
"Um, o-of course not," she replied. It had taken her a second before she realized Ranma was acting out the boyfriend she had asked him to act like.  
Luna smirked, "Have fun,"

Lina and Ranma entered the bedroom. The room was well furnished, a drawer in one corner, a desk in another and a small table with a potted plant in the other. There were several painting on the wall that gave the room a cozy feel.  
It didn't escape Ranma and Lina's notice that there was only one bed in the room. It didn't bother Ranma though.  
He flopped onto the bed, his hand behind his head, his legs crossed at the angles. Because his arms were above his body, the bottom portion of his shirt rid up his torso, exposing his firm stomach.  
"Man, this bed's soft," he commented, "I could fall asleep on this bed in no time,"  
Lina was silent.  
Ranma turned toward her, his head propped on a hand, he patted the empty space on the bed in front of him with his free hand, "It seems we'll be sleeping awefully close to one another, eh?"  
Lina said, "What makes you say that? You're going to be sleeping on the floor,"  
Ranma was already asleep.  
Lina's face sullened. This wasn't funny. She was tired also but she didn't want to sleep on the floor either. She was a female and Ranma was a male. That meant Ranma should be obligated to sleep on the floor if it made Lina uncomfortable to sleep in the same bed as him.  
"Ranma, wake up," she said, giving Ranma a shake.  
He didn't budge.  
Lina contemplated fireballing Ranma in the face to wake him up but it would probably ruin Luna's guestroom in the process. And she didn't want Luna angry at her. That would not be a good thing.  
She didn't want to sleep on the floor either. She could go sleep in the livingroom but then Luna would get suspicious and know something was up. Perhaps she could sleep on the floor, provided it was comfortable enough to sleep on.  
She tried to pull the blanket out from under Ranma, much to no avail. Ranma was a lot heavier than he looked. He didn't budge as Lina pulled at the blankets with all her might. He continued on sleeping soundly.  
"C'mon, I had a long day," she said wearily, still tugging.  
She gave up after a minute.  
Knowing that there really wasn't much she could do, she slowly and cautiously climbed into the bed. Ranma's large build seemed to take up most of the bed, more than three quarters of it. As she laid down, she couldn't help but believe how comfortable the bed was. She would fall asleep in no time.  
Ranma turned over, an arm draping over Lina. His face was within inches of hers, so close that she could feel Ranma's warm breath brushing against her skin. His breathing was slow and even. He was definitely sleeping. He was going to get a good night's sleep.  
Lina, on the other hand, was not.

Ranma yawned as he entered the livingroom and noticed Luna in front of the fireplace. He had awoken sometime through the night and had found Lina sleeping way too comfortably against him. A leg and draped over him, her head snuggled against the crook of his neck and sholder, one of his arms pinned under hear. It had taken him almost ten minutes before he had managed to slip his arm out from under her befor heading out of the room.  
The fire in the fireplace was causing all the shadows in the room to flicker in and out. Luna seemed intent with writing something in her spellbook. She was clad in what looked like a cross between a negligee and pajamas. It consisted of a rather revealing top and pajama-like bottoms.  
"Whatcha up to?" he asked.  
Luna gave a start, yelping in surprised. She managed to calm herself before saying, "You scared me there. I didn't know you were there until you said something,"  
Ranma scratched the back of his head, "I guess it was part of my trainin'. I have this tendancy of showing no signs of my presence without even realizing," He looke down at Luna, "If ya don't mind my asking, but whatcha up to? Ya look like you're writing something in your spellbook,"  
Luna nodded, "Yes I am. This spell came into mind while I was sleeping and I wanted to write it down. I'm going to try it out in the morning to see if it's effective or not,"  
"What kinda spells does that book contain?"  
"Everything and anything," she replied, "There're spells ranging from fire to ice to lightning to simple light spells to apocalyptic-type spells. Why don't you sit down. There's no need to stand, not unless you're going back to sleep,"  
Ranma sat down next to Luna, "So, do ya write in that book all the time,"  
"More or less," she replied, "I add a new spell about once every week. You want to take a look?"  
Ranma gave her a curious look, "I thought no one's supposed to read it,"  
"Yes, that's true, but it's not like you use magic so there's no harm in it,"  
He shrugged and leaned over to look at the book. Unfortunately, he leaned close to her in a way so that she could smell the faint fragrance of his shampoo from the shower he had taken a short while ago. It made her a bit uncomfortable.  
Ranma pointed toward a random spell, "What's this spell do?"  
"That one stops time temporarily," he said, "It has a spherical range of around two hundred meters and everything within stops for around a minute. The only problems is that the user has to cast this from over two hundred meters away unless he or she wants to get caught in that spell,"  
Ranma scratched his chin in deep thought, "Hm, wouldn't that be a problem, because if you only have one minute to perhaps defeat your opponent before the spell loses its effect, it'll take almost minute for you to reach your opponent,"  
"For a person who doesn't know magic, you sure seem very keen on it," Luna nudged Ranma.  
Ranma smiled, "Well, I tend to pick things up real quick,"  
There was a moment of awkward silence.  
Luna asked, a smirk on her lips, "So, when do you plan on asking me to send you home?"  
He quickly turned toward Luna, this surprised look on his face, "H-how didja know?"  
Luna leaned up against the side of the fireplace, enjoying its warmth, as she brought her legs up against her chest, resting her chin on her knees. It gave this real cute school girl look to her that didn't escape Ranma's notice.  
"Well, most of the time, people usually come to me seeking help," she said in a soft voice.  
"Actually," Ranma said, "You were the first person I figured that could help me. However, if you can't, I'm sure I'll find of another way. I've been stuck on other worlds before and managed to get back. I never gave up then and I have no intention now,"  
"Sending you back home is actually very easy," she said, gazing down at her book, "Heck, I'm capable of sending you not only back home, but back to whatever time you would like to arrive at,"  
Ranma looked impressed, "Damn, you must be one heck of a magic user to be able to do something like that so easily,"  
Luna smiled slightly at the compliment. She found it a bit heart warming to receive a compliment. Although it was generally known that she was the most powerful magic user in the world, no one had actually complimented her on it before.  
"So...when would you like to go back home?" she asked from out of the blue.  
"Actually, I'm not too sure," he gave a weak smiled, shrugging his shoulders, "I never really considered it much on when I wanna be home. All this time that I've been on this world, I've had my mind set on getting back home so I never really got around to actually looking around and enjoying the sights,"  
"If you don't mind my asking, but how did you arrive on this world?"  
"I just appeared here," he replied, "Unfortunately, it was directly over your sister as she was taking a dip in a hot spring,"  
Luna nodded in acknowledgement but said, "I remember you telling me that but what I'm curious is exactly how did you end up here?"  
Ranma went into deep thought for a moment, "Now that I think of it, I really don't know. The last thing I remember was shooting my most powerful ki-blast at a group of Angels and then, all of a sudden, appearing on this world. From the way I think about it, I must had thrown a ki-blast so powerful that it must've caused some kind of rip in time and space and sent me here,"  
Luna leaned forward and looked deeply into Ranma's eyes. Ranma gazed back innocently.  
After a second or so, Luna leaned back and sighed, "It seems you're telling the truth. That seems to be all that you remembered. However, there seems to be signs of an altered memory,"  
Ranma's eyes widened in surprised, "Wow, you can read my mind also? Cool. I thought I was the only one," His eyes narrowed a bit, "Now why would ya think I wasn't telling the truth,"  
Luna held her hands up defensively, "No, it's not that. I was actually looking to see if there was more to it that I might be able to pick up on that had caused your sudden appearance here. All that I saw was what you had said. And yes, I can read a person's mind by looking into their eyes. I'm also surprised that you can do that also. I noticed your being able to do so when you commented on my sister's phobia of slugs from out of the blue. Being able to do that is no easy feat,"  
"So, what am I thinking of right now?" Ranma grinned. He imagined himself and Luna having sexual intercourse.  
Luna gave Ranma a pensive look, "Fine,"  
She looked into Ranma's eyes for a brief moment before she quickly looked away, this blush on her cheeks.  
She gave Ranma's arm a playful punch, "Ranma,"  
Ranma chuckled slightly, "I was only kidding,"  
Luna was quiet for a moment, "So...when did you plan on revealing to me that you and my sister were pretending you were boyfriend and girlfriend? Shortly after you were gone? Perhaps not even at all?"  
He said nothing for several moments before saying, "Oh, I guess you saw that, huh?"  
"Well, one of the down sides of being able to do that is that you sometimes see a part of the person that you don't really want to find out or know about," she said softly, "This being one of them,"  
Ranma leaned toward Luna, looking deeply into her eyes.  
"How about I ask you a question myself?" he smirked, "When didja plan on telling us that you were aware of our lil plan since you had been near the front door when we planned it and had overheard our conversation...instead of pretending that you just found out now,"  
Luna said nothing.  
"Okay, how about we not do this?" Luna said, "This seems to be getting us nowhere. It's only embarrassing the both of us,"  
Ranma nodded, "That's true. It's kinda weird as a matter of fact. I've never dealt with a situation like this before where someone could read my thoughts just as easily as I can with theirs. I never really noticed before, but it's kinda invading,"  
Luna laughed, "My thoughts exactly,"  
"All right, let's not do that anymore," he said, "I'm sure you wouldn't apprecaite my finding out something about you that you don't want found out and vice versa,"  
He held his hand out for Luna to shake on it.  
She did. Her hands felt soft and warm to his touch. There was a brief moment of heat between their touch that was caused by the fireplace. "Oh man, you have a crush on me!" Ranma pointed, this shocked look on his face.  
"What?" Luna gasped, "Y-you just said that we weren't going to read each other's thought!"  
Ranma leaned forward, a warm smile on his lips, "Who says I read your thoughts? I was merely taking a guess and your reaction seems to answer it. I'm not limited to only looking into a person's eyes to finding out things about a person,"  
Luna glared at Ranma.  
"Oh yeah?" she smirked.  
She snapped her fingers.  
"I like Luna Inverse," Ranma said from out of the blue, "I think she's very beautiful and sweet person,"  
Luna snapped her fingers again and Ranma stopped his talking.  
"W-w-what that heck was that? Why was I saying that?" Ranma held a hand by his mouth. He was saying words that he meant, but it hadn't meant to be said aloud.  
"You're not the only one that can pull a fast one," Luna grinned, hiding a blush and a laugh, "I can snap my fingers and you'll be saying whatever you're thinking. Against your tactic, I can merely react in a way that'll give away now signs of my thoughts. However, against my tactic, you can't do anything,"  
"That's low," Ranma narrowed his eyes.  
Luna laughed. Ranma started laughing also.  
"Okay, let's call it a truce," Ranma said sincerely, "There's no need to up each other. There's nothing to prove. All we're gonna do is end up embarrassing each other,"  
"Hear hear,"  
"No more sneaky stuff," he offered his hands.  
Luna shook it, "Agreed,"  
After shaking hands, a bit of an awkward silence ensued, none of them knowing what to say aftewards. Ranma had deicded to speak first. "You said earlier, when you were trying to see if there was more to what I could recall that you might be able to pick up on that had caused my sudden appearance here," he began.  
"What about it?"  
"You said there were signs of what you called 'an altered memory'," he said, "What do you mean by that?"  
Luna turned toward him and said, "I said just that. There were signs that you were supposed to remember something after having casted that blast of yours, but it seemed to have been erased,"  
"Really? Could there be a reason for it?"  
She nodded, "Yes as a matter of fact. People's memories here could be altered also, even thought it's very hard. Most of the time, its to repress something that could seriously damage a person's mental state,"  
"Are you saying I'm mentally unstable?" Ranma gave Luna an odd look.  
Luna laughed, "From where I'm sitting, I'd say far from it. But that could be a reason. For example, imagine a girl on this world got raped. That's quite an ordeal to go through, such an ordeal that she might have trouble functioning mentally had she not been raped. One way to cure that is to erase her memory of being raped. Another example could be of something he or she could have done that they regretted so much that it could lead to suicide,"  
Ranma seemed disturbed, "Waitaminute, you're saying that I got raped and wanna kill myself? T-that's why my memory was tampered with?"  
Luna shook hear head, "You're not listening to me. Those are merely examples,"  
"Oh," he said, "But what about amnesia? Could I have that?"  
"No, amnesia is different from what had happened to you," she replied, "If you had amnesia, then there should be physical signs of it. However, that's not the case. There's signs that, basically, someone entered your mind, played around with it, and then left,"  
"I wanna know what happened," he said seriously, "I wanna know what memories have been erased,"  
Luna shook her head, "I don't think that would be wise. Having a person's memory altered, even slightly, is incredibly hard and it can't be done accidentally. Only someone just shy of divine powers can do such a thing. And if something like that were to have been done to you, then there must be a really good reason,"  
"I don't care. I wanna know," he said, "Is there any way you can help me?"  
Luna wondered if she should say yes. She could help him, but helping him could, in fact, hurt him a lot more instead.  
"Please,"  
Luna sighed, "All right, I'll do it, but you're going to have to wait until morning,"  
"Why?"  
"Because it's quite a spell I'm going to have to cast," she replied, getting up to her feet, "And we're going to have to cast it outside. You need a lot of open room for something like this and the light provided by the moonlight would make it a bit hard to see,"  
"Oh, I guess you're right," he said sullenly.  
"I'll see you in the morning,"  
"All right. G'night, Luna,"  
"Good night, Ranma,"

Lina was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she emerged from Luna's home and into the backyard where she saw Ranma and Luna engaging in conversation. It was early morning, around six, far earlier than she would like to be up. She was definitely not a morning person.  
She was clad in her usual attire. Emiko and Naga were still sound asleep.  
"G'morning, sleeyhead," came Ranma's cheery voice.  
"Jeez, how can you be up so early?" she yawned, "It's barely even dawn,"  
Ranma chuckled, "It's so early the sun's barely up,"  
"That's one stupid pun," Lina felt like punching Ranma.  
She approached him and her sister, curious as to what they had been talking about. She had noticed they seemed to converse a lot. It annoyed her a bit also. Luna was getting alone so well with Ranma and Lina had no idea how it was so easy for her sister to do that yet not for herself. How come Ranma never teased Luna? Luna was only slightly older than herself.  
"What are you two up to?" she asked curiously.  
"Well, your sister here found out that I seem to have some kind of altered memory," he replied, turning to face her, "And I asked her to do me a favor and find out exactly what it is,"  
Luna smiled in silent acknowledgment before Lina could ask if that were true.  
"What kind of altered memory?" Lina asked.  
"Perhaps it's too early in the morning for your brain to comprehend," Ranma teased, "But if I knew what they were, then I wouldn't be asking her to find out, now would I?"  
Lina glared at Ranma. What a way to start the morning? She was already getting angry and about ready to blow a fuse.  
He smiled, "Well, it turns out that there seems to be some memories lingering in my mind that. Your sister here's offered to bring those memories out,"  
"Memories?" New stuff 5/20  
He turned toward Luna, "All right, so what should I do?"  
She pointed toward the middle of the backyard, which was more like a open field the size of a football field with tree outlining three sides and the house outlining the last side.  
Ranma did as he was told, sitting indian style, his hands resting on his thighs. "Just relax and close your eyes, that's all you have to do. I'll take over from here," Luna said. She walked over to where Ranma was sitting and held her hands out toward Ranma's back, her palms facing each other, and began chanting in a language Lina nor Ranma could recognize.  
Lina watched eagerly. She had never seen a spell like this before. She watched as Luna seemed to glow a faint shade of red as an aura enveloped her. After she finished her chant, she pointed her palms toward Ranma as a ray of red light shot out and hit Ranma from behind.  
In an instant, a projection emerged from Ranma, showing a decimated city. It was as if Ranma's head was some kind of projection device except the projection was in every direction instead of simply toward the front. The trees disappeared to reveal devestated building. Although the real Ranma was sitting indian style, another version of him appeared right where he was standing, as if a ghost image. The image looked battle worn and tired. Lina looked around, "This is the world Ranma's from?"  
She noticed how the broken down building looked ready to crumble at any moment. There was not a single soul to be seen in every direction, save for several other individuals surrounding Ranma that looked exactly like him.  
"What's going on?" Lina turned toward her sister, "Why are there other versions of Ranma surrounding him? Who are they?"  
Luna, having casted her spell, watched intently as the scene unfolded, "I don't know. All we can do is watch and hopefully be able to find out for ourselves,"  
Lina noticed one of the Ranma clones held a hand forward as a red spear-like object seemed to emerge from its hand. The spear was around the same length as the clone was tall.  
It seemed the Ranma image hadn't noticed this happening because his back was twoard the clone. "Ranma, look out!" Lina shouted as she noticed the clone about to throw the spear toward Ranma.  
"You can't do anything," Luna said, "The projection can't hear you, nor can the real Ranma. All we can do is watch,"  
Lina felt this sense of helplessness. She bit her lower lip, watching in anxiety at ominous event that was most likely going to happen.  
Lina cried out once again as she saw the clone throw the spear right toward Ranma, Ranma unable to react in time and was struck from behind, the half the spear emerging from his chest. It was obvious that Ranam had just been fatally wounded and would die very shortly.  
"Enough is enough," Luna and Lina watched as the clone say as he walked up toward Ranma and pulled the Lance back out of Ranma's body before walking around. "H-how did you?" the Ranma projection said, clutching at his bleeding chest.  
Lina felt this extreme sense of rage as she and her sister watch as the clone guestured toward the other clones, only to see them all seemed to nod and extending their hands forward where the Lance of Longinus seemed to grow our from their palms.  
"Each and every one of us simply recreated an exact replica of the Lance," they heard the clone reply.  
The Ranma projection smirked.  
"What's so funny?" the clone asked.  
"You know the myth behind the Lance? It states that those that wield the Lance is destined to die a tragic fate," Ranma had said.  
"That is true. Since you have wielded the Lance, you will die a tragic death," the clone smirked back, "You will die by the same weapon that he destined you to death,"  
"Have you forgotten something?"  
"What might that be?" the clone didn't seem interested.  
"It was something I have learned a while ago. AT fields don't work when you hold it," Ranma had said, "You will all die along side me,"  
"I'm sorry, everybody..." they heard Ranma say to someone unscene. They watched as Ranma extended a hand forward toward the ground before him and then shout, "Seppukku Mouko Takabisha!"  
Lina and Luna instinctively held their hands over their face to block the brilliant light that emanated from Ranma's hands. The sphere of energy that emerged from Ranma's hand struck the ground and began to expand, consuming Ranma in the process before expanding outward in an exponential rate, consuming the clones immediately afterward.  
Lina and Luna were also consumed in the sphere of energy but was left unscathed, both of them having forgotten that it was all just a projection and having casted barrier spells.  
"W-what was that?" Lina gasped.  
"Look carefully," Luna said, "I think that was that ki-blast Ranma had mentioned. From here on, this memory had been erased,"  
The buildings disappeared and turned to sky as the Ranma projection could be see being thrown through it. It was as if the entire projected world moved around the stationary Ranma. All of a sudden, the ground appeared from below where Ranma crashed into the ground with deafening impact. There were no more buildings. All that remained was a massive crater.  
Tears started to flow from both Luna and Lina's eyes as they watched the projection twitching as he desperately trying to sit up, a massive puddle of blood forming around him.  
"R-Ranma," Lina felt the need to reach out to him.  
They watched as a few moments, a young looking woman ran up to Ranma kneeling down next to him. She had short black hard.  
"A-Akane..." Ranma had said weakly, his eyes closed. "P-please, don't talk, Ranma," the female said. She was cradling Ranma in her arms, rocking back and forth, "Please, don't t-talk. You're going to be fine..."  
The Ranma projection slowly reached a hand up and placed it against Akane's.  
"I-I'm g-gonna be fine..." he said weakly.  
"P-please, don't talk," she pleaded.  
All of a sudden, the projected world started to become blurry.  
"What's going on?" Lina asked, wiping a tear away.  
"That represents his death is very imminent,"  
"A-are the Angels d-destroyed?" Ranma had asked.  
"Please, Ranma! Don't talk!" the girl named Akane sobbed into his chest.  
"D-don't w-worry about m-me. I-I'll b-be fine. A-are they d-destroyed?"  
"Y-yes, Ranma. They've been destroyed, all thanks to you," the girl replied.  
"T-that's good to hear,"  
Akane's eyes widened as she felt Ranma's body go limp in her arms.  
"N-no...no...no," Akane said between sobs, gently rocking Ranma, hoping to wake him up, "Ranma...Ranma...wake up...wake up!"  
They saw as Ranma's hand loosen its grip over Akane's before it fell down to his side as his whole body slumped against Akane's.  
"I-I'm g-glad I-I had an AT field," Ranma mustered the words, "I-it allowed me t-to survive l-long enough to s-say 'Goodbye',"  
"Ranma!" Akane shouted.  
The projected world faded to black.  
Luna and Lina were silent for several moments as the real world finally came into place over the projected one. When the spell finally wore off, Ranma snapped back into consciousness and opened his eyes.  
He got up and walked over toward Luna and Lina, totally unaware of what they had witnessed for he would never be able to recall those lost memories.  
"What's wrong? Why're you crying?" he asked curiously.  
Lina looked up at Ranma with tearful eye. She quickly wiped them away, steeling herself, desperately trying to hide her anguish.  
Luna, barely able to contain herself, said, "Well, we just saw the memories that had been erased,"  
"And?"  
Luna and Lina told Ranma of what they had seen.  
"I died again?" Ranma's eyes was wide, "Jeez, I seem to be using up lives like it was water,"  
"Wait, a-aren't you upset?" Lina asked.  
"I guess I should, but it's happened before," he replied, scratching the back of his head and smiling weakly, "However, what I'm interested in is knowing exactly why I would be here if I had died? How did I get here then?"  
"I haven't the slightest idea," Lina said, "Perhaps someone resurrected you. From what I guess, perhaps you weren't supposed to die and someone took it upon themselves to resurrect you. That could explain why you don't remember what happened after that ki-blast you threw, because it would be more convenient having you believe you accidentally ended up here because of something you did, not what someone else did,"  
"I don't get it," he said in deep thought, "Who would do such a thing for me? And why would I be sent here instead of back home?"  
Luna said, "I don't know. Whatever it is, you're going to find out when you get back. Unfortunately, you won't be able to go back until the end of the week. In order for me to send you back home, there needs to be full moon, and that won't happen until the day after tomorrow,"  
Lina looked a bit confused, "How did you know?" She didn't remember Ranma ever having asked her sister on getting him home.  
"We talked a bit last night," Luna said, "And I found out that he was seeking my help on getting home,"  
"You and Ranma talked last night?" Lina asked, her voice soft.  
"Yes, we did," Ranma said, smiling innocently, "And we found some out that we had a lot in common," For some odd reason, Lina felt jealous of her sister. How did her sister get along so well with Ranma? How come it came so easy for her? And it didn't help that Ranma seemed to have much more in common with Luna than herself. "Well, I'm glad to hear it," Lina managed to say. She feigned a bit of annoyance that her sister was getting along well with Ranma...her supposed boyfriend.  
"Forget it," Ranma said, smirking, "She already knows we were pretending,"  
Lina blushed a shade of red, "S-she does?"  
"Yep," Luna smirked. She wasn't going to bother embarrassing Lina any more. It was funny that Lina had said to Ranma that she wanted to pretend they were boyfriend and girlfriend...just so that she wouldn't be tease by her older sister to find a boyfriend.  
Luna had never done such a thing before to begin with. Now what made her curious is why Lina wanted to pretend in the first place?  
"However, if ya still wanna go on pretending, I have no qualms about it," Ranma smirked, "Actually, I would rather it stay that way,"  
Lina blushed, "Y-you do?"  
"Yeah, that way, Emiko won't be bothering me," he nodded.  
"Oh," she hid her disappointment.  
"Um, so, what are you going to do for the next week?" Luna asked. She noticed that it was nearing eight, "I've got to be at work in a little while,"  
"I dunno," he shrugged, "I guess I'll just hang out and check out the sights. Either that or train,"  
Luna smiled, "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you wait tables? The restaurant has been busy and we could use the extra help,"  
"Wait tables?" Ranma seemed a bit skeptic, "I dunno. I mean, I've done that before, but I kinda have some bad memories of it. And it was all in order to learn a special technique,"  
After a moment, of thought, he added, "But then again, you did mention how the restaurant does need help and helping out at your restaurant is the least I could do considering you're going to be sending me back home,"  
"So you'll do it?" Luna seemed a bit anxious of his reply.  
"Sure, why not?" he agreed, "It'd be a new experience. I'm always willing to try something new,"  
Luna smiled, managing to conceal her joy. All of a sudden, the thought of going to work seemed a whole lot more worthwhile because not only was Ranma going to be there working along side her, but they could indulge themselves in conversation during work. She really enjoyed their conversations.  
"Hey, what about me?" Lina said. She was expecting to perhaps show Ranma the sights like he had originally wanted.  
"You're welcome to help out also," Luna smirked a bit. Lina made a face, "You've gotta be kidding me,"  
Then she wondered how if would be like to be working with Ranma also. Considering how unpredictable he was, he could end up making the workday seem like an eternity or a blink of an eye. However, no matter the case, although he was a pain in the neck, Lina had somehow grown fond of him and had gotten used to his teasing ways, to an extent. She had never waited tables before. It would be, as Ranma had put it, 'a new experience'. Perhaps she should be a good younger sister by helping out. Of course, Ranma being there might be beneficial.  
"Fine, I'll help out," Lina said with mocked resignation.  
Luna smirked, "You're not fooling anyone, sis,"  
"Fooling who?"  
"Nevermind,"  
Naga was awoken from her slumber to a very masculine voice.  
"Time to wake up, sleeyhead," came Ranma's voice. He whispered it into her ear.  
Although she was still groggy from her slumber, that voice sounded way to sexy for her own good. It seemed to instantly wake her up.  
"R-Ranma," she said, sitting upright, the bed sheets falling down to her waist.  
"I see you like to sleep naked," Ranma smirked.  
Naga looked down at herself and noticed her firm breast in clear view, the lower half of her body cover by her bedsheet. She shrugged her shoulders, not at all embarrassed by her nudity.  
"It seems so," she commented.  
"Well, if it doesn't bother you, then I guess it shouldn't bother me," Ranma said, "Anyway, it's almost eight. It's time to get up. Luna's gotta goto work and it wouldn't be right to stay in her home without her being here. We're only her guests, afterall,"  
Naga rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "I guess you're right,"  
She rubbed her lower back.  
"Your back still hurts, huh?"  
She nodded absentmindedly.  
"Fine, I'll fix ya up," he said, "Just lie down on your stomach,"  
She obediently did as he had instructed, lying flat on her stomach in a way so that her back was exposed to him and her backside and lower half cover by the bedsheet. Ranma reached a hand out, palm facing downward, and touched the small of her back. He could feel the muscles of Naga's back tensing under his touch. He held his hand there for a moment to allow her to get used to his hand touching her. When she started to relax, he placed his other hand right against her back, right between her shoulder blades, causing her to become tense again.  
He slowly started to rub the small of her back, his hand moving around in circles.  
"That feels good," Naga commented, closing her eyes.  
"That's generally how a backrub feels," Ranma replied with a grin, "Man, your back is all tied up in knots. I'm surprised the tenseness in your back didn't make you go crazy from frustration,"  
"Mmmm," Naga replied, enjoying the sensation.  
Ranma put some upward pressure between Naga's shoulder blade with one hand while he simultanteously put some downward pressure on the small of her back. It was as if Ranma was trying to stretch Naga's spine longer if her were able to grab on to it. When he did this, Naga felt this orgasmic sense of relief travel though her entire body. It was a sensation she had never felt before. The pain disappeared completely, no remnants of it remaining. "There, how does that feel?"  
"I-it feels great," Naga felt so relaxed she was dangerously close to falling back asleep, despite being totally awake a second ago due to Ranma's voice.  
Ranma, finished with his his task, backed away from the bed, "There ya go. You should feel much better now,"  
Naga, sat upright, feeling great. She couldn't help be notice how invigorated she felt. She felt like she was in a totally new body, "I feel great,"  
"Well, I'm glad I could help," he smiled warmly, getting up to leave the room, "And if I were you, I'd put on some clothes first before getting out of bed,"  
"Wait," Naga called out to him.  
"Hm?" he turned toward her.  
Naga got up out of bed, the bedsheets falling to her ankles, revealing Naga in all her naked glory. With a single bound, she lept forward and embraced Ranma, her head nuzzling against the crook of his shoulder and neck, her breasts pressed firmly against his chest.  
"Erk!" Ranma stammered, not knowing what to do.  
"For what you have done! I'm deeply in your debt!" Naga said in a sultry voice, "Very well, I shall marry you!"  
"W-w-w-what?" Ranma's eyes widened as the blood drained from his face.  
"I shall marry you!" she repeated before tilting her head back to look up at Ranma for a fraction of a second before pressing her lips against Ranma's.  
At that moment, Lina entered the room. Emiko was accompanying her since Lina had woken her up while Ranma had gone off to wake Naga. When the entered the room and saw a naked Naga kissing Ranma passionately, their jaws hung opened.  
"It's not whatcha think," he said.  
Naga pulled her head away just as Emiko and Lina struck both slapped Ranma in the cheek. Ranma's brows creased, "Are you two stupid? I said it's not whatcha think!"  
Luna entered the room, "All right, we should get going now...oh, what do we have here?"  
Ranma sighed, "All right, go ahead and slap me. Ya might as well since Emiko and Lina here took it upon themselves to do so,"  
"Now why would I want to do that?" Luna said, "There's got to be some reasonable explanation to what's going on. There's no need to jump to conclusion,"  
Ranma's eyes lit up, "Thank you! You're the first person I have ever met that's willing to give me the benefit of the doubt!"  
"Okay, fine," Lina said impatiently, "What did we walk in on? From what I saw, you were kissing Naga, my arch rival, and were planning to marry her,"  
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Ranma muttered, "And I suppose Naga here's already pregnant with our love child?"  
"I'm pregnant?" Naga's eyes widened. She looked down at her stomach. Strange, she don't remember having had sex with Ranma. It was something she would most likely remember. But then again, who know what Ranma could had done while he was giving her a backrub. She remembered hearing stories that males usually took advantage of females when they were least expecting it.  
Ranma turned toward Naga, "Tell me I didn't hear that. Tell me Naga here doesn't believe she's really pregnant with my child,"  
"Well, it wouldn't be hard to believe since she's already dressed for the occasion of conceiving," Luna said with a grin. She found this very amusing. Sure, it was at Ranma's expense, but seeing the shocked look on his face as well as the others was quite a sight to behold.  
"Put some clothes on, Naga," Lina commanded her arch rival.  
Naga placed her hands on her hips, "Out of spite, I will not,"  
Ranma turned around, "I'm leaving the room now. It's obvious that the females in this room, save for Luna here, are crazy and are more trouble than they are worth,"  
Lina, Emiko, and Naga seemed to argue as Ranma made his getaway. Luna caught up with Ranma as he sat on her livingroom couch, looking up at the ceiling and pinching the bridge of his nose.  
"Man, I've got a headache," he commented.  
Luna walked over to him, "That's no problem. I can cure that,"  
Before Ranma could say anything, Luna placed a hand on Ranma's forehead and casted a healing spell, relieving Ranma of his migraine. Once that was done, she smiled at him, knowing that he was no rid of that annoyance.  
"Better?" she asked.  
"Much," he replied gratefully, "Man, it's all gone. Thanks," He leaned back on the couch, continuing to look up at the ceiling, "Man, I wouldn't mind you coming back with me to my world,"  
"Oh?" she seemed genuinely interested, "Why so?"  
"Because stuff like that happen to me all the time and I'm always getting headaches because of the frustrations it gives me," he said, "That way, with you around, you can cure me of those headaches, and I would have someone around that isn't so-called 'lovestruck' with me that I can have a conversation with,"  
Luna smiled. She was glad he didn't just want her around just to cure him of his headaches. He seemed to enjoy her company as much as she his.  
"You know what, I might actually hold you up on that offer," she smiled warmly, "I'm always working at my job so I never really get a chance to go places or have some time off. Perhaps I can visit your world and then simply have it where I come back just moments I had left,"  
Ranma smirked, "Hey, maybe if you do decide to visit, I'll be able to convince ya to stay,"  
For a brief moment, Luna's heart skipped a beat. The romantic side of her had picked up on the message behind that statement and felt giddy like a schoolgirl, but reasonable part of her made her realize that this was Ranma she was talking to.  
"Enough with the teasing," Luna said with a smirk, "I know you're just joking around,"  
Ranma gave a weak smile, "I guess it doesn't work with you, huh? Oh well, I guess I can't win 'em all. I guess with some people my teasing doesn't work," The sounds of the arguing females could be heard as they became louder and louder as they came toward the livingroom.  
He cleared his throat, "All right, I guess now that everyone's up, we better head on out,"  
"There you are," Emiko said in annoyance, "Why did you skip out on us?"  
Ranma held a hand up, pointing toward his ring finger and said, "Do you see a ring on this finger?" "No, why?"  
"Well, that means we ain't engaged nor married, and that means I don't hafta justify all my actions," he smirked.  
Emiko said in disbelief, "That's it? That's all ya wanted, a ring to make our engagement official? Why didn't you tell me? I'll go buy one now,"  
"My headache's back," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose again.  
Luna couldn't help but giggle. Ranma was quite the character. Considering the situations he seemed to have the knack of getting into, he was definitely one of a kind.

Ranma looked damn sexy in that waiter's outfit of his. The outfit consisted of black pants and a t-shirt. However, the t-shirt was pretty tight on him and his muscular v-tapered back and chest and abs could be seen pressing against the fabric. He and Lina and Luna were in a tiny changing room located in the back of the restaurant, away from the front where it was already bustling with business.  
"So how do I look?" he asked, doing a little turn.  
"You look fine," Luna replied, smiling.  
"All right. So what's the basics? What do I need to know?" Luna told Ranma what he needed to know. He told of easy ways to remember the orders and of how to always keep a happy demeanor. She told him that everything else he would realize or learn on his own.  
"Oh yeah, and the same thing should apply for you," Luna turned toward Lina who stood silent until now. It was as if she hadn't been there.  
Lina let out an exasperating sigh and said sarcastically, "Thanks for the helpful advice,"  
"Where did Naga and Emiko go?" he asked both Lina and her sister.  
"Naga went out down to town...to buy a wedding dress," Lina twitched slightly.  
Ranma's mouth became a thin line, "Well, it better not be for me," "I doubt it would fit you," Luna teased, "I'm sure the outfit would feel rather uncomfortable on you,"  
Ranma started laughing, "Fine, I had that coming. Man, I'm gonna hafta talk to that woman when she comes back. Okay, so what happened to Emiko?"  
"She went after Naga," Lina answered, "She went out to stop her. Something about how you were to marry her instead so Naga might as well give up but when Naga showed no signs of it, she followed after her.  
"Gee, why shouldn't I've been surprised," he muttered, "They're both wacky," He cracked his knuckles, "Okay, let's get started and pray that me and Lina don't foul things up,"  
"I don't think you would, but I'm not too sure about my sister," Luna smiled teasingly.  
Lina glared at her older sister, "And just what's that supposed to mean? And what makes you think Ranma won't mess up instead? That's no fair,"  
Ranma walked over to Lina and placed a hand on her shoulder, laughing happily, "No need to take offense. She's just teasing ya. That's what big sisters are supposed to do,"  
"Who says I was teasing?" Luna smirked.  
Ranma laughed again, "You're too much. All right, let's get started,"  
He and Lina followed Luna out of the changing room and onto the dining floor. They were told which tables to wait on to which the obliged. Although initially, both Ranma and Lina had trouble getting used to remembering the orders and keeping tabs on which tables needed to be waited on, as the day moved on, they started to get the hang of things, Lina espeically enjoying the amount of tips she made.  
"Ranma, you're supposed to keep the tip," Luna said to him when she noticed him putting the tip money in the cash register, "They're for your services,"  
"Oh," he said. He shrugged and put the money in the register anyway, "Well, I don't need it so there's no use in my keeping it,"  
Luna smiled, this warm feeling in her heart as she gazed at him, "You're perhaps the only person I have ever met that isn't motivated by money,"  
"Thanks, I think,"  
As the day moved on, Luna noticed something very odd. The restaurant had this tendancy of attracting mostly male patrons, the very fact that the beautiful Luna Inverse waited tables there and there perhaps being a chance of her waiting on them, but the ratio of males to females started to even out.  
"Well, I'll be damned," Luna said to herself, "He's attracting female customers,"  
"Yo, I'm getting a bit freaked out here," Ranma commented as he and Luna passed each other near the register.  
"Oh? How so?"  
Ranma showed Luna a gold coin with something written on it.  
"'Minyo Inn. Room 122'" Luna read the writing.  
"I dunno about you, but from where I'm standing, it seems that girl just gave me her hotel room number," he commented, "All I did was wait tables on that group of girls and now one of 'em is giving me their hotel room number? What gives?"  
"You're so naive, Ranma," Luna gave Ranma's arm a playful punch, "I guess you're not the brightest fireball in a shamanic repetoire, huh? Just ignore it. It comes with the job,"  
"Oh, okay, if you say so," he said. He scratched his chin, "But what if the girl's really pretty? I mean, the girl I waited tables on wasn't bad at all. Actually, she was quite the looker,"  
Luna's eyes narrowed as she said, "Well, you're on the job so you can't,"  
"All right, I was only teasing. It's not like I was gonna follow the girl up on her offer," he held his hands up defensively, "No need to get angry,"  
"I wasn't getting angry," Luna said a bit angrily.  
Ranma smiled before he went back to working.  
The rest of the day went smooth mostly. Every here and there, Lina dropped a dish or would get upset at a customer of being so picky, the that was expected. Ranma did everything perfectly, easily mistaken for a veteran waiter.  
At the end of the work day, Lina was tired and was looking forward to a good night's rest. However, she was also very eager to count the amount of money she had made in tips.  
"Have you seen Ranma?" Lina asked her sister as they headed toward the changing room.  
"No, I haven't," she replied, "I thought you knew where he went,"  
The two girls entered the changing room and got quite an eyeful. They both saw Ranma topless as he was proceeding to get changed. Although they had seen a guy topless before, they had never really seen someone so well defined. Although he wasn't massive like some bodybuilder, his body exuded a sense of perfect health and dormant power.  
"Knocking usually helps," Ranma said, turning to face them, not bothering to conceal himself.  
"Actually," Luna smirked, "If you really want to know, this is a female changing room so you're basically out of place,"  
Ranma opened a locker, "Oh, then I guess that would explain why I saw these,"  
He pulled out a pair of black lacy panties and twirled it in his hands, a grin on his face. Luna's hand instinctively shot out to grab it, only to grab nothing but air when Ranma quickly pulled his hand away.  
"I assume these are yours, huh?" he smirked.  
"And I assume you're going to do the right thing and give them back," Luna said, an edge to her voice.  
Ranma didn't seemed to hear, a bit preoccupied with looking at the lacy panties in his hands.  
"Give me that!" Luna snapped it out of his hands. When she looked down in her hands, she realized she hadn't gotten hold of her panties. Instead, she was holding a black washcloth. She couldn't believe the speed of Ranma's hands to switch something in his hands without her seeing it while she had been looking directly at his hands.  
"Ya mean this?" Ranma grinned, still twirling the panties.  
"You seem to have a thing for women's underwear," Luna commented, figuring it was best to beat Ranma at his own game, "Gee, I wonder what you do with them after you steal them,"  
Ranma quickly said, "I do not steal panties! I would never do such a thing!"

New stuff 5/28

Luna, noticing Ranma momentarily distracted, lunged forward in an another attempt to grab her panties back. Unfortunatley, she had committed a bit too much to the task for she ended up crashing against Ranma and falling down on top of him. Fortunately, she manged to get her underwear back because he had to let go of to free his hands up to catch her.  
It only took a second before Luna realized Ranma, in an attempt to catch her, had ended up grabbing both of her breasts as she laid on top of him. "B-before y-you kill me...k-keep in mind that I was only attempting t-to catch you before y-you hit the floor," Ranma stammered.  
Luna got up to her feet, clutching her chest, feeling violated. She was blushing a deep shade of red. She looked up at Ranma as he got up off the floor.  
She watched him for several tense moments, wondering what she should do. He had grabbed her breasts, afterall. However, it had been accidental She would get back at him one day, though.  
"C'mon, let's go out and celebrate on a job well done," Ranma said with a smile, "My treat," He hoped the quick change in subject would allieviate the tension in the room.  
"Go where?" Luna and Lina asked in unison.  
"Who cares," he replied, "Anywhere. Let's go out to a fancy restaurant. Since I'm not gonna be needing the money I made from tips back home, let's spend it,"  
Luna smirked, "I don't know if you have enough. My sister here can eat quite a bit,"  
The young girl shot her sister an wicked glance, "Ha ha, real funny,"  
"Don't worry about it," Ranma said, still smiling, "I made more than enough to eat four or five full meals by myself and I eat more than Lina. Since we'll only eat one meal, I'll have more than enough to pay for the bill, provided you don't eat as much as I do,"  
Luna shook her head, smirking a bit, "Don't worry about me. I don't eat that much. A girl's gotta watch her figure, afterall,"  
Ranma looked a bit confused. He regarded her intently for a few moment, surveying that sultry figure of hers and her feminine curves, Luna becoming a bit nervous under such scritiny.  
He scratched his head, "Now why would ya hafta do that? From where I stand, you look fine. You definitely don't need to lose weight, that's for sure,"  
Luna blushed from such a heartwarming compliment. She gave Ranma's arm a playful punch, "Ranma, you're embarrassing me,"  
"For real," he said, "You look fine. I'm tellin' ya the truth. Heck, considering the condition you're in, I don't think you're the one that's watching your figure if ya know what I mean,"  
"Ranma," Luna said, actually wanting to hear more.  
"Really, you should have nothin' to be ashamed of,"  
Lina watched at the conversation between her sister and Ranma. At first, she was shocked that her sister seemed to be acting unlike herself. She was usually reserved and almost soft spoken, her emotions rarely surfacing save for anger. After her initial shock, Lina felt this pang of jealousy for some reason.  
"Enough, you two," Lina said coldly, and edge to her voice as well as impatience. She wondered if it was wise to tell her sister to go have some other man flirt with her instead of Ranma. Ranma should be flirting with Lina since they had known each other longer.  
Ranma placed a hand on Lina's shoulder, a coy look in his eyes, as he smirked and said, "Do I hear some jealousy in your voice?"  
"I-I'm n-not jealous!" Lina shouted, heat flooding to her cheeks.  
"Then why're ya yellin?" he asked, still smirking. He sighed in noticeably mocked annoyance, "Fine. If it'll make you feel better. You look fine also. You don't need to lose weight either. You look just fine the way you are. It's a wonder how a beautiful girl like yourself don't have to beat men asking you out off with a stick,"  
Lina blushed a deep shade of red. Ranma had never complimented her before. And even though he was saying it sarcastically, saying those words just to shut her up, deep down inside, she believed there were some genuine feelings behind those words.  
Luna laughed a bit. That Ranma, what a character. Even his obvious sarcasm seemed a bit genuine in some aspect. Ranma asked, "C'mon, let's go out and get some food. I'm hungry,"  
"Why not eat here?" Luna asked from out of the blue.  
He shook his head, "No thank you. No offense, but I don't find it all that appealing eating at the same restaurant where I just worked,"  
"Come to think of it, you're right," Luna commented, realizing something, "I never really thought about it, but not once have I ever been compelled to eat here whenever I'm hungry,"  
"How about we go to that big restaurant I noticed near the outskirts of town," he smiled, "It looked like a great big restaurant and I'm in a mood for some juicy steak right now,"  
"Oh, you must mean Lanlin's Restaurant," Luna said, "It's only a ten minute walk from here. I never ate there, but I heard their steak and lobster are really good. I wouldn't mind giving that place a try,"  
"Fine," he smiled, "We'll go eat there,"  
"Hey, what about me?" Lina called out.  
"What about you?" he asked.  
"Don't I get a choice in where I want to eat?" she replied, "I'd like to eat at Isato Restaurant. I had dinner there the last time I was here visiting and really liked the food there,"  
Ranma grinned, his teeth showing, "Sure, you can go eat where ever ya like, but you'll probably hafta pay your own bill since I won't be going there,"  
Lina was about to argue but said nothing instead. She didn't like the thought of paying for her own meals. If she could have a free meal, she would. And since Ranma was offering to pay, provided they goto that restaurant at the edge of town, then she wouldn't object. Not paying took precedence over paying in her book.  
"Fine, I'll goto that restaurant with you," she sighed.  
Ranma laughed again, "You're making it seem like I'm forcing you to come with to that place to eat. I dunno about Luna, but I know you would rather go eat there because that'll mean you won't hafta pay instead of choosing your own place to eat and having to pay yourself,"  
Lina said nothing.  
"Well, c'mon, let's go eat," he said, about to leave the room.  
"Wait," Luna said.  
"What is it?"  
"We can't go dressed like this," she gestured toward herself, Lina, and Ranma's attire.  
"What do ya mean?" Ranma and Lina asked in unison.  
Luna said, "The place is a bit more formal than any regular restaurant. You have to dress in something more appropriate. I have some nice outfits at home for myself and my sister can borrow a pair but I don't know what you're going to wear,"  
"That kinda sucks," Ranma's eyebrows creased, his lips turning into a frown, "I don't have any clothes except for the one's I'm wearing," He snapped his fingers, "I know, I'll just go buy some nice clothes right now. Okay, we'll do that. You and Lina can go back to your place. I'll go out and buy some clothes. Okay?"  
Luna nodded, "That sounds like a good idea, we can meet back here in about an hour,"  
"Okay," he agreed, "I'll see you then," Before he left, Ranma turned around and looked at Lina, "Hey, why dontcha wear that nice dress I gotcha the other day? It'll probably look real nice on ya,"  
Lina's eyes lit up. That was true. She had that beautiful dress just waiting to be shown off. She would look ravashing in it, perhaps even beautiful enough to make even Ranma take notice. That was such a good idea. There wasn't a better time to wear it.  
"I'll do that," she said, very eager to try that dress on.  
"Very well, see ya then,"  
Lina looked at herself in the full length mirror in her sister's bedroom. She did a little turn, admiring what she saw looking back at her.  
She looked beautiful in that summer dress of hers. It was a rather simple dress, but it seemed to look perfect on her. The color of the dress matched that of her hair. What seemed to make Lina look so beautiful was the fact that it exposed quite a bit of her legs and she did have slender legs. Sure, they were nowhere near as long or slender and her sister, but it wouldn't surprise Lina to get a few extra second glances because of them. Lina, although a bit on the petite side, was indeed a beautiful young woman. She just didn't know that. She always wore those heavy clothing as well as that cape that seemed to conceal her curves quite well. She wasn't even all that underdeveloped, no where near as underdeveloped as she thought. Perhaps she had grown more curves over the past year or so. She was eighteen, afterall. Heck, she was going to be nineteen in just over a week from now.  
Luna entered the bedroom. She had taken her bath and it was now her chance at getting dressed up. She only had a towel wrapped around her chest. The towel was large enough that it came down to her mid thigh. However, she should not sit down while wearing a towel like that unless she wanted to inadvertantly give a little peep show.  
"Why're you wearing that dress now?" Luna scolder her, "You didn't take a shower yet. Keep in mind that you were working all day so you're still sweaty and probably smell of restaurant food,"  
Lina said, "I know, but I couldn't really help myself. I had to try it on. I didn't want to just sit around and wait for you to finish taking a bath," "Well, the bathroom's free," Luna replied, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.  
After Lina removed her dress and left the room, Luna walked over to her closet and looked through for a possible outfit. She found one almost immediately. It had been a summer dress she had bought two months ago but had never had the chance to wear. It was similar to Lina's dress except it seemed a bit more risque as one would put it. It had a low cut neckline that would show off her cleavage, unlike Lina's which didn't plunge quite a low. The hem of her dress went down pretty low though, down near her ankles.  
Luna walked over to her underwear draw and fetched out a pair of panties. As she was putting them on, she thought about Ranma. She couldn't help but smile at the inicident that had occurred only a short while ago in the locker room. She couldn't believe she had gotten so riled up over something like that. Sure, it was understandable what with it being her panties, but she had to admit Ranma seemed to have this certain knack of pushing her buttons. It was a bit refreshing as a matter of fact. Her days had felt a bit dull, consisting of waking up, going to work, coming home and going to sleep before repeating it all over again. With Ranma around, she never knew how her days was going to go. Usually, though, it ended at a much happier note than had he not been around.  
Lina entered the bedroom, clad in her bra and panties, feeling invigorated, "Ah, that bath did wonders,"  
She walked over to the dress and proceeded to put it on.  
"Can I ask you a question?" Luna asked after a moment of hesitation.  
"You you just did," Lina smirked. Her eyes widened when she realized that it was something Ranma to say. She had been around Ranma way too long. She was starting to pick up on his teasing habits.  
Luna smirked before saying, "Anyway, I was just curious about Ranma,"  
Lina turned her full attention toward her sister, "What about him?"  
"What kind of feelings do you have toward him?" she asked. She already knew, but she rather hear it from Lina's lips, "As you can tell, I already know about you and Ranma pretending to be a couple,"  
Lina gulped.  
"What I find odd is that you asked him to pretend he's your boyfriend," she continued on, sitting down on her bed, "because it would prevent me from so-  
called teasing you about not having one,"  
"Um,"  
"Now what I'm curious about is why would you do that?" she smirked, "I've never teased you once about not having a boyfriend before. Now why would you be worried about my teasing you when you know full well that I wouldn't've?"  
Lina became a bit flustered, "Um, well, t-that I can explain,"  
"I'm listening," she crossed her arms in front of her.  
"Well, it's like this..." she began. She quickly pointed at the clock, "Look a the time, w-we should hurry up and get ready,"  
"Not until you tell me why," Luna said, awaiting an answer.  
Lina sighed, "Fine, if you really wanna know, I wanted to know how it was like to have a boyfriend. There, ya happy?"  
Luna smiled, "More or less. But why Ranma in the first place? You and he, actually, you seem to be out for his blood, so why would you choose him?"  
Lina twiddled her thumbs, "Well, you're right. Sometimes, he gets on my-"  
"Sometimes?" Luna perked an eyebrow.  
"Fine, everytime," Lina sighed, "Everytime, he gets nerves, and it annoys the hell outta me, but for some reason, I never really find myself actually staying angry at him. Sure, I do hold malice toward him, but now that I think about it, he's not that bad a guy...provided you can get past the fact that he's arrogant, obnoxious, rude, ill-mannered, stubborn, and just plain annoying,"  
"Gee, it kind of reminds me of someone I know," Luna commented, smiling while looking directly at Lina.  
"He's far worse than myself," Lina said.  
"Well, even though I've only known him for a short while," she commented, "He seems like a genuine nice guy. He does have his quirks, but it seems to add to his appeal and makes him seem even more attractive,"  
"A-a-attractive?" Lina's eyes narrowed, "Y-you find Ranma attractive?"  
It was now Luna's turn to blush, "Well, I guess you can say that. There is definite something appealing about him, about his personality and the way he carries himself,"  
Lina said nothing. She thought about it for a moment. Perhaps her sister was Ranma. Ranma was indeed an attractive individual. She even knowledged that well before she had gotten used to his ways. "What do you mean by the way he carries himself?" Lina asked.  
"There seems to be an underlining confidence to him," she said, wondering if she should be telling Lina this, "It seems like he's capable of doing anything and it looks as if he knows he's capable of doing such things also," She cleared her throat, "However, tWhat I'm just wondering is what your feelings for him are,"  
Lina hesitated for a long time before she took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I admit it, I like him. I hated him initially, but I find myself actually enjoying his company. And yes, I actually do find myself attracted toward him,"  
Luna smiled, "Well, that's good to hear,"  
"Why do you ask this?" Lina asked curious.  
"Let's just say you're nothing the only one in this room that believe this,"  
Lina and Luna, dressed in formal wear and both looking very beautiful and extravagant, were making their way toward Luna's restaurant where they were going to meet up with Ranma.  
Lina constantly thought about Ranma ever since she found out her sister seemed to have feelings for Ranma also. She wondered if Ranma could possibly like Luna back. Actually, she didn't really need to think about that for long. There was something to Luna that seemed to appeal to Ranma right off the bat. He and Luna got along very well. They had deep, meaningful conversations.  
Damn, Lina thought. Luna is definitely the type of woman that Ranma would go for. What could Ranma see in her? What did Luna have that Lina didn't...besides bigger breasts, better manners, more intelligence, more knowledge in magic, more respected throughout the world, a better cook, a better sense of understanding, less likely to jump to conclusiong, a better listener, a better sense of humor, a more feminine body, and more caring.  
Sure, those qualties would appeal to any hot-bloody male, but Lina had something Luna didn't. Lina had...she had nothing that Luna didn't. That was what bothered her. Luna was Lina's superior in every way possible.  
"You seem rather deep in thought," Luna commented.  
"Yeah, I've had a lot on my mind," Lina replied softly, looking forward.  
"Let me guess, you were thinking about Ranma,"  
"How did you know?" Lina turned toward her sister.  
Luna smiled, "You're easier to read than a book,"  
"Well, what you told me back there got me wondering," she said, "Perhaps Ranma really is a great guy. Maybe I had it better than I thought, but never realized it until I realized that I might lose it all,"  
"This isn't some competition here," Luna said, "I merely wanted to let you know that I find Ranma attactive. If you don't take him, I'll be more than happy to take him off your hands,"  
Lina's mouth became a thin line as she said nothing, turning her gaze back straight ahead as they continued to walk.  
Luna smiled inwardly. Lina had no idea. Sure, Luna was attracted toward Ranma and would be very happy with him if he accepted her, but it was useless to go after him. She wouldn't be able to go with Ranma back home since she had to stay behind to cast the spell that would inevitably get him home. She would only be hurt when she realized that Ranma would not be comng back. Lina, on the other hand, could choose to go with Ranma back to his world if she wanted to. She wasn't the one casting the spell, afterall.  
Luna actually wanted Lina to be happy, despite the fact that she had had her fair share of disappointments with Lina. She merely wanted Lina to feel threatened about losing Ranma. With Emiko and Naga, Luna knew her sister didn't feel threatened and wasn't at all worried.  
When the two girls rounded the corner, they were pleasantly surprised when they saw Ranma dressed to kill. He was wearing what people would consider a casual suit, consisting of a navy blue button up shirt, black pants, and a blazer to match. He had even bought new shoes.  
Ranma smiled warmly, "You two look great,"  
"Thank you," Lina said first.  
"You don't look all that bad yourself," Luna commented, regarding him. He looked devestatingly handsome.  
"Thanks," he said, a bit impassive, "However, I don't really care all that much about the outfit. It's kinda stiffling if you ask me. But I guess I could deal with it if it means eating a hearty steak meal," He noticed Lina still staring at him, "Whatcha tryin' to do? Your gaze is gonna burn a whole through me if ya stare any harder,"  
Lina flushed, managing to turn her head away to hide her embarrassment.  
"Well, are we ready to go yet?" Luna asked, about to head off.  
"Yeah, I'm famished," Lina jumped at the change in subject, following behind.  
Ranma stood where he was, "Not yet,"  
"Oh?" Luna turned back toward him.  
"Emiko and Naga didn't arrive yet," he responded.  
"T-they're c-coming along?" Lina found herself almost yelling. All of a sudden, a enjoyable dinner she had been eager for seemed to find itself slipping away. She was not looking forward to this. Ranma nodded, "Yeah, bumped into Naga and Emiko as I was walking through town. I told 'em of our dinner plans and they jumped at my invitation,"  
"Why did you have to invite them?" Lina whined, "They're going to ruin things. I was looking forward to dinner with just you and my sister,"  
Ranma seemed interested, "Really? You've been looking forward to this dinner engagement? Why so? It's just dinner. We've eaten at places before on our journey here,"  
Lina flushed again, "Um, nevermind,"  
"Actually, I'm looking forward to dinner also," he commented.  
Lina's eyes seemed to light up, "Y-you are?"  
"Yeah, I haven't had a good steak in what feels like ages," he replied honestly, "I hope the place makes good steak,"  
Lina let out an annoyed breath. She should had figured he would say something like that. It was typical of Ranma.  
Naga and Emiko approached the group of three. They, too, were clad in formal wear. Naga was clad in a dress that seemed almost too formal. At least it wasn't a wedding dress like she had intended to get before. It was more along the lines of what a maid of honor would wear. The neckline of her light blue dress seemed to plunge dangerously low. Oddly, though, the hem of her dress wasn't all that high, hiding her long shapely legs.  
Emiko was easily the best dressed of the group. She wasn't wearing an extravagant dress nor an expensive one at that. She wore the simplest, an least expensive dress of them all. It was a black evening gown, the hem falling down to her ankles, one slender leg exposed from the single slit running up the side. There was no plunging neckline either. The dress did hug her body quite tightly though.  
"You both look great," Ranma commented.  
Lina glared at Naga as Naga happily accepted the compliment. Emiko blushed before softly saying her thanks.  
"You look very h-handsome, too," Emiko said nervously. She felt a bit insecure. She had never worn a dress in her life before. She had actually abandonned her hidden weapons when she had realized they could easily be seen pressing against the smooth fabric of her dress. "What's in the bags?" Ranma asked, noticing that Naga and Emiko were holding what seemed like individual carry bags.  
"Oh, our clothes are in there," Emiko replied, "We didn't know where to put our other clothes,"  
"You can leave it in the locker room in the restaurant," Luna said, jerking a thumb toward her restaurant behind her, "I'll show you where,"  
"Thanks," Emiko and Naga said in unison. They both followed Luna into the restaurant, leaving only Ranma and Lina to wait outside. When Lina noticed this, she seemed to become severely self-  
conscious of this, of the fact that it was just the two of them.  
Ranma smiled at her.  
Lina smiled back nervously.  
"I'm looking forward to going back home," he said from out of the blue. "Yeah, you leave tonight, huh?" she said. She knew full well that he was leaving tonight. She just was pretending indifference.  
Ranma nodded, "Yeah, it'd be nice to get back home. However, what I'm wondering is what's in store for me when I get back. Keep in mind I shot off my most powerful ki-blast. I'm probably gonna see nothing but one huge crater over where MegaTokyo, the city where I live, used to be,"  
Lina asked, "D-do you think Emiko's going to get used to your world? S-she is going back with you, r-right?" She knew full well that Emiko would be going back with Ranma and it tore away at Lina.  
Ranma said nothing for several long moments. He sighed and said, "I dunno how she's gonna react. Man, I dunno what the heck I'm gonna do with her,"  
"I think it's rather moronic the situation she put you in," Lina commented wryly with a bit of discontempt.  
Ranma turned toward Lina, smirking, "So I'm a moron now?"  
Lina was taken aback, "What? No, I didn't say that,"  
Ranma chuckled, "It's okay. It's kinda my fault I got myself into this situation. I should have realized that there was a possibility of she having to abide to some kinda clan law such as that,"  
"What do you mean? I don't understand,"  
"Well, there's actually a law similar to that back home," he said, "The only difference is that you hafta defeat the girl...not unmask her. It's the same concept, just a different implementation,"  
"So what're you gonna do?" Lina slowly moved the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go.  
Ranma shrugged, "I dunno. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna marry her. I like her, sure, but I'm not gonna marry her because of some clan law,"  
"But she's going to kill herself if you don't," Lina commented. She didn't dislike Emiko any true malice, at least not so much as to her dying. Emiko was not that bad a person. She was just annoying to Lina.  
Ranma nodded, "That's what I'm scared of. However, given some time, she won't go through it. She would at the moment, but the way I think of it, after a while short while on my world, she'll start getting comfortable and realize she don't need to heed those ninja ways of hers and will abandon the idea of killing herself,"  
"You seem pretty confident that that'll actually work," Lina commented.  
Ranma shrugged, "More or less. Perhaps you haven't noticed, but Emiko's wearing a dress,"  
"Yeah, I noticed," Lina muttered in annoyance, "And yes, I noticed she looks really good in it,"  
Ranma chuckled, "Actually, I wasn't talking about,"  
Lina flushed. Perhaps she shouldn't had said that.  
He cleared his throat, "What I was referring to was that she's wearing a dress. I betcha anything that she had never done that before. In a way, she's slowly letting herself loose, albiet slowly. I know a bit about how a ninja thinks, and wearing a dress would be considered not quite forbidden, but pretty close to it. To a ninja, a dress is indefficient because it's harder to move around in, there's no place to conceal your weapons, and you can't wear anything protective underneath without it being obvious,"  
Lina smirked, "You seem to know quite a bit about dresses,"  
Ranma chuckled, "Ha, I probably forgot more over the years than anyone could hope to ever remember,"  
"Aren't we modest?" Ranma grinned, his teeth showing.  
He cleared his throat, "Anyway, given the time, she'll realize that she could go on living a regular life, not that of a ninja's. She won't feel the need to abide to her ninja ways and marry the person who unmasked her. When that happens, I'll be free of any sense of obligation,"  
"So, then that means you're only being friendly with her out of obligation," Lina asked. She felt almost estatic. Ranma shot her a glance, "No. She's actually a nice person and I like her,"  
"Oh," Lina said, a bit disappointed. It had been too good to be true. She shouldn't had gotten her hopes up.  
Luna, Emiko, and Naga emerged from the restaurant.  
"All right, we're ready to go," Emiko said happily. It showed on her face that she was eager about this dinner engagement. "You pretty eager," Ranma smiled at her.  
Emiko did a little turn, feeling a bit carefree, a feeling she had never really felt since she was very young, "I guess so. Plus, I've never worn a dress before. I kind of like it, too,"  
Ranma continued to smile, "Well, I'm glad you like it. You really do look pretty in that dress," He ignored the seemingly hostile glares he was receiving from the other females, especially Lina.  
"I actually feel pretty," she said, not really knowing what she was saying, just enjoying the moment, "I could get used to this,"  
"Is that wise? Are you allowed to wear a dress, what with you being a ninja and all?" Naga asked.  
Emiko's eyes widened, "I totally forgot about that,"  
Ranma's face faulted. He felt a headache on the horizon. He quickly said, "Well, even if you're not supposed to be wearing it, you still look nice,"  
"Thank you," she said, Naga's comment already forgotten.  
Ranma let out a breath in relief, "All right, let's get going,"  
Together, everyone headed for the restaurant.

The four girls and Ranma around a table that would accommodate eight people instead of five. Ranma ended up sitting in between Lina and Luna. The restaurant was definitely a high class restaurant. What was even more surprising was that they were able to get in without a reservation. They had been fortunate enough to come in just as a reservation for eight cancelled.  
"Hey, I don't live here, how was I to know that you needed to make a reservation," Ranma had said innocently.  
"One would assume a reservation would be necessary if they had to get dressed up to eat there," Luna smirked, "However, what's done is done. I guess we were lucky there was a cancelation when we arrived,"  
"Here here," Ranma agreed. He snatched a piece of bread that came compliment with their eating there. Just as he was about to take a bite into it, Emiko said, "Ranma, where's your manners?"  
"What are you, my mother?" he replied.  
"Ranma, you're not supposed to use your hands," Luna said.  
"It's bread, how else am I supposed to eat it?" he seemed confused.  
The maitre d' came to the table. He was a young man around his mid twenties, clad in an expensive looking tuxedo. He had a condescending look on his visage, as if having just realized how uncooth Ranma was and that he would have to serve that man.  
"I'd like some more time," Ranma said, "I haven't decided yet," Heck, he hadn't even looked at the menu yet. "Very well," the man said, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice, before he left to wait on another table. The man had obviously seen Ranma's eating habits and believed he didn't belong in an establishment such as this resturant.  
Ranma noticed this an glared at the man as he walked away, "Damn punk,"  
"What? What's the matter?" Emiko asked, oblivious to the silent exchange between Ranma and the maitre 'd. "Forget it," he shrugged, "It's nothing important,"  
Ranma read the menu, not taking long before setting his eyes the description of the kind of meal he wanted. The girls looked on their own menus, all of them deciding on their own meal.  
When the maitre d' came back, Ranma ordered first. When he left to place the order, the girls looked at Ranma curiously.  
"Hey, what gives?" Lina asked, "That waiter looked like he wanted to kill you or something,"  
Ranma leaned back in his chair, "Whatever. I could care less. He better not try anything funny though. Let's change the subject. So, how are we going to solve this lil problem here with my going home,"  
"What do you mean?" Luna asked, "There's no problem. It's not all that hard for me to send you back home, where ever it is. All I need is a full moon,"  
"No not that," he said with a wave of the hand, "I'm sure you're gonna do a great job. What I'm talking about is on who plans on going back with me,"  
All the girls looked at each other.  
"I have every intention of going back with you to your world," Emiko proclaimed.  
"Yeah, I know that, but what about you two?" Ranma said, looking at Naga and Lina.  
"What about us?" Lina asked.  
"Are you intending on coming back with me to my world?" Lina thought about it for a moment. Although it would probably be a great adventure, visiting a new world and all, she didn't really know if that would be a wise choice. How would she get back? The thought of not being able to get back "I've never really thought of it," Lina lied through her teeth.  
"I am coming along," Naga said confidently, "Afterall, since Ranma and I are to wed, it would be necessary that we be together,"  
"No you're not!" Emiko said loudly, her anger rising, her hands clenched under the table.  
Ranma laughed, "Whatever you say, Naga. Whatever you say," Although he would usually argue, there was something he found very nostalgic about this. Naga kind of reminded him of Kodachi in some ways. The bad traits Kodachi possessed, like insanity and twistedness and tendancy to scheme were not in Naga though.  
"Ranma!" Emiko turned toward Ranma.  
Ranma sighed, "No. There will be no fighting. I've had dinner arrangments back home that's like this and it always ends up with all the girls arguing and almost going to war. I just want a peaceful meal for a change,"  
"Girls? Who? What girl?" Emiko glared at him.  
His head tilted slightly, "Y'do know that I did other things before I came to this world, right? I had several female friends back home and we would all go out to dinner every Friday night together. Nuff said,"  
"Are they pretty?" Emiko continued to glare.  
"What kinda question is that?" he seemed surprised, "What's wrong with you?"  
"I think it's because she's starting to realize that she might have some competition," Luna commented with a giggle.  
"I am not!" Emiko said. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and added, "Besides, it doesn't matter since he's mine. They could go after another guy. Ranma's mine,"  
"I ain't no piece of meat," Ranma said sullenly, "And I ain't yours, Emi-  
chan,"  
"Why? Because you have someone back home?" she gasped. She had never thought of that. However, it wouldn't matter. Whoever the girl back home was would have to give Ranma up.  
He shook his head, "Well, no, but-"  
"Good," she interrupted him.  
"Argh! You're giving me a headache," he said, rubbing his temples.  
"I could get rid of it for you like I did the other night," Luna said.  
He nodded, "Yeah, please,"  
Lina, Emiko, and Naga looked at Luna.  
Ranma, seeing that they seemed to have become jealous, placed a arm around Luna, causing Luna to start momentarily. He managed to whisper into her ears to play along.  
"Yeah, she got rid of my headache," he smirked, "Until you girls, she gets rid of headaches. Why can't you be like her? Outta all of you here, I like her best by far,"  
Luna felt color rushing to her cheeks. The problems was that she didn't really know if Ranma was telling the truth or not.  
"Hey, what about that part where you and Lina are supposed to pretend you were a couple?" Naga asked dumbly.  
"Naga!" Lina shouted. It was the fact that Naga blurted it out that upset Lina so much. Luna and Ranma laughed.  
Ranma said, "Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that. Luna here knows about the lil charade so it's outta the bag. There's no need to pretend anymore. Anyway, as I was saying, I like Luna here the most,"

Small scene needed where everyone go back to Luna's place

Luna stepped out of her house early in the morning to catch sight of Ranma as he went about doing some katas. He was standing in the middle of her backyard, his back toward her, in some kind of unarmed battle stance.  
She watched intently, wondering what Ranma was doing. She herself had never seen a kata before. She remember Ranma mentioning about learning martial arts and that it was a form of unarmed combat, yet couldn't understand why he would choose to fight while unarmed instead of with a weapon. The person with the weapon clearly had the advantage.  
She leaned against the side of her home, continuing to watch.  
Ranma kept his eyes closed as he went through his kata. He would punch at some invisible opponent before defending himself from an attack from a different angel and then counterattacking. His movements were smooth and graceful, making him look like he was doing some kind of solo dance.  
Luna noticed Ranma seemed to used open hand strikes as opposed to his closed handed ones. She shot her hand out, palm open, wondering if it was more effective. She didn't give it much thought because she would usually just throw a fireball and that would end the battle quickly and decisively. Ranma went into a stance unseen by any human save for Luna. He stance looked extremely odd, consisting of Ranma crouching low to the ground, his weight resting mostly on his hind leg while his front leg, his hands held in front of his body, palms facing toward the ground. To someone knowledgeable in martial arts, especially kung-fu, it would seem Ranma had gotten into what would be called the 'panther stance'. The only difference was that instead of his chest facing forward like the a person would while in that stance, Ranma's chest was facing at a right angle to the invisible opponent. Only his head and hands were pointed in the direction of his opponent.  
Luna watched with fascination, wondering what Ranma was up to. She realized that him being in that weird stance meant it was harder to hit, what with him being lower to the ground.  
Ranma punched at an invisible opponent, his hands lashing out as if trying to scratch his assailant. A split second later, these red slash marks appeared along the same path of Ranma's attack, suspended in mid-air before disappearing. Before Luna could become curious as to what kind of attack that was, Ranma seemed to disappear and reappear about ten meters in front of himself, sliding to a halt, his hands away from his body as if he had already attacked.  
"What the?" Luna said, surprised that even Ranma managed to move faster than she could see. She was very skilled at seeing things any regular person would miss and her reflexes were unmatched. However, it seemed there was someone out there that seemed faster than herself.  
Ranma opened his eyes and turned around upon hearing someone's voice. When he noticed Luna, he was shocked that she had managed to acutally get this close to him. She was no more that fifty or so meters away.  
He waited a split second for his executed attack to take place. All of a sudden, red slashing marks appeared five meters in front of Ranma and disappeared. They had appeared exactly where his opponent would had been had he been in a real battle.  
Luna walked up to Ranma, a bit awed, "That was mighty impressive. What kind of attack was it?"  
"Thanks," he smiled, relaxing now, "I dunno what kinda attack it is. I'm simply trying to develop some new technique,"  
"Whatever technique that was, it seemed very effective," she commented.  
"I have a technique similar to what I had done but there's no red slash attacks," he replied, "This was a technique I was told by home that I had done when I went into my neko-ken mode but I have no real idea how I did it. I'm just trying to see if I can consciously execute it,"  
"Consciously?" Luna looked curious.  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Well, if ya really wanna know, there's this fighting technique I know of that basically makes me unstoppable. There's on problem though. I have no control over it, my personality changes, and I remain in that fighting mode until someone breaks me out of it. I'm basically trying to incorporate this technique and have it where I am conscious of my actions,"  
She asked, "And just what kind of technique is this and how is someone to get you out of it?"  
He said, "Well, this technique has it where I take on the the characteristics and ferocity of a cat but I maintain the speed and strength of what I am capable of at that time. I lost total control of rational thinking and my survival instincts kick in. To get me outta it, well, I don't really know exactly how it works, but it seems only certain people can get me outta that 'cat' persona. There's only one person that can do it at the moment. Her name is Akane, the same person you probably saw during that erased memory bit the other day,"  
Luna said nothing. She seemed to be very surprised to hear that Ranma was capable of something like this. She knew there were things about him she never knew, but something like this was very surprising and jarring, even to herself.  
Because of the awkward silence that ensuded, Ranma had decided to change the subject, "I'm surprised you got so close to me without my noticing. Sure, my eyes were closed, but I can usually sense someone before I could even see them. You erased your presense totally that I couldn't detect you,"  
Luna smiled, accepting the compliment, "Well, even though I wait tables, I have another occupation. I'm a Knight of Ceilpheid, which, although it probably means nothing to you, is probably the highest level an human individual could reach,"  
Together, Luna and Ranma walked back to the house.  
"What about becoming God?" Ranma smirked, "Surely being God-"  
"Notice how I said 'human' individual," Luna interrupted, smirking in reply, "About a year ago, I had been given the opportunity to actually move up to to the next level, meaning become a god, but I declined. I like where I am in life an have no need to change it. Besides, I like being human and will see where being so takes me,"  
It was Ranma's turn to be surprised, "Wow, really? That's so cool. I'm talking to a god,"  
Luna blushed, giving Ranma a playful punch in the arm, "No, I'm not a god,"  
"Gee, I wonder what it's like to be a god," he said.  
She said, "Well, considering I work for a god, let's just say it's not a fun job,"  
Ranma looked at Luna before saying, "I'm not gonna even ask,"  
"So, what about yourself? Would you ever want to be some kind of god?" she asked.  
Ranma shook his head emphatically, "No way. What I would like is actually the reverse,"  
"Excuse me?"  
Ranma smirked, "Well, I dunno how it is on your world, but on mine, there's a level between being a human and being a God and that's being an Angel. I was born and Angel. Either that or at least part Angel. I wouldn't mind being a human because that way, I won't hafta worry about there being another Angel attack. That was that battle you saw where I was battling these exact look-a-  
likes of myself. That battle had taken place for two reason, one was to supposedly test my world to see if humanity were to continue on and the other one was to bring me back where I belonged...wherever that was. I would like to live a regular life like everyone else,"  
"Same here," she said, smiling slightly.

Luna saw Ranma in all his naked glory. She had wanted to use the bathroom but hadn't expected to see Ranma on his way out of the bathtub. It seemed he took a bath after every morning workout.  
"Oops, I didn't know you were in here," Luna said, a bit of color coming to her cheeks. She quickly turned her back to him.  
"I don't think turning around helps any considering there's a mirror right in front of ya," she heard Ranma say. He didn't seem all that bothered with Luna having seen him naked.  
"Fine, I'll leave," she said. She did turn around and regarded him for another moment to add, "For groping me back there at the restaurant, now you can consider us even,"

Luna entered her livingroom and was surprised to see Ranma sitting comfortably on her couch and watching the fire in the fireplace. Several hours had passes since the bathroom incident, both of them holding no grudge toward one another. Ranma looked wide awake, despite the fact that it was around three in the morning.  
"You seem relaxed," she commented, wondering if she should sit down next to him. She chose to stand, her shadow flickering from the fireplace.  
He nodded, "Well, I couldn't really sleep, I'm a bit excited about going home. I've been here for quite a while and would like to get back and see how everybody's doing,"  
"You must have some really good friends," He nodded, "Yeah, I guess you could say that. We've been through a lot together. Heh, boy, will they be in for a surprise when I show up. Just the thought of seeing the expressions on their face is reason enough to head back home," He then noticed Luna was standing, "Why're ya standing? Why dontcha sit down?"  
Luna hesitated for a moment before she walked forward and sat down next to Ranma on the couch. They were sitting fairly close to one another but not close enough that they were actually in physical contact with each other. However, she was sitting close enough to notice how handsome Ranma's features were when illuminated by the light emanating from the fireplace.  
"You'll be leaving tomorrow," she said softly. He nodded, "Yeah,"  
"Will you ever be able to come back?" she had to ask.  
He shook his head, "No. I won't, at least I don't think so. There was a way to travel between worlds but the item that allowed me to do so was most likely destroyed in that ki-blast I threw,"  
"That's unfortunate," she said, not really all that embarrassed, "I'll miss you,"  
He smiled warmly, "I'll miss you, too. However, what's to keep ya from coming along?  
She shook her head, "I can't,"  
Ranma said, "You sure you don't wanna come along?"  
Luna felt very tempted but that was impossible, "As much as I would like, I can't. I have to stay because I'll be too busy keeping the gateway open so that you could get back home,"  
"Well, it's unfortunate," Ranma said, a bit disappointed.  
There was a moment of silence. There didn't seem to be any awkwardness to it though, neither Luna nor Ranma feeling compelled to keep a conversation going.  
"Can I ask you a question?" Luna asked.  
"You just did," he grinned.  
Luna smiled. She recalled Lina having done that when they were both getting dressed for the dinner engagment.  
"Okay, then can I ask you another question?" she asked against.  
"You just did again," he grinned.  
Luna turned her head away and looked at the fireplace, "All right. I guess I won't bother then,"  
Ranma seemed a bit confused. His teasing didn't quite turn out the way he wanted it to. He said, "All right, fine, ask away,"  
"I was curious as to what you said back during dinner," she said after a short moment, "About you saying that you liked me the best out of the group,"  
"Of course, that goes without saying," he replied.  
"Thanks,"  
"I mean, c'mon. Keep in mind that all three of 'em are rather crazy in some way or another," he contiued, "You're not crazy,"  
"Thanks, I'm glad I have 'em all beat in that department," she replied a bit sarcastically.  
Ranma chuckled, "I hope I didn't offend ya,"  
Luna smiled back, "Don't worry about it,"  
He leaned back on the couch, his arms stretching out from his body and resting on the back of the couch. He was unaware that one of his arms was resting behind Luna's back portion of the couch.  
"So, what are you going to do after ya send me back home?" he asked.  
She replied, "I guess I'm going to go back to work. What else?" She sighed, "Although I would like to experience adventures like my sister, but lately, all I've been doing is working,"  
Ranma shrugged, his arms accidentally brushing against the nape of Luna's neck, "Well, it's unfortunate that you can't come along. A change of scenery could do a world of wonders,"  
She nodded, "That's true. But once again-"  
"I know. I know. You can't because you're gonna be busy with sendin' me home," he said, "However, if there is a possible chance that you could come, would you?"  
She didn't hesitate, "Yes, I would," She smirked, "You seem to really want me to come with you back to your world. Gee, I wonder why?"  
Ranma blushed beet red, "Um, er-"  
She smiled, her eyes showing a hint of flirtation, "Is that a blush I see on your cheeks?"  
He banished his blush. Luna was quite surprised at how well he could control his feelings and emotions. He cleared his throat, "Actually, I merely figured you would enjoy seeing my world, that's all,"  
"Whatever you say," she smiled warmly.

"Ranma,"  
"Yeah?"  
"I'd like to go with you back your world," she said, a bit nervous.  
Ranma seemed a bit shocked at what he had heard, "Did I hear that correctly? Did you just ask me if you could tag along with me back home?"  
"More or less," Lina replied.  
Ranma didn't really think about it that long before saying, "No,"  
"W-why not?" Lina was taken aback. She wasn't expecting Ranma to have come to a decision so quickly, and to a decesion she wasn't hoping to hear.  
He said, "That's easy. Emiko's already coming back with me. That's already one more person than I would like but I guess that can't really be helped. You on the other hand-"  
"But what if I wanted to?" Lina asked.  
"Nope, I still don't wantcha to come along," he said, still shaking his head, "And keep in mind that I'm not looking out for my best insterest either. Ya hafta take into consideration, deep consideration, that if you come with me back to my world, there's a possible chance you won't be able to get back,"  
Lina never thought of that. That seemed to put things in a whole new perspective. She had only wanted to visit Ranma's world for a week or so and then come back. But now that she had found out that she might not be able to come back, perhaps visiting the world would not be possible. She would have to be committed to staying there.  
"Pretty big decision, ne?" Ranma smirked, "This is for keeps. There is a possible way-"  
"There is?" Lina smiled. That would mean she could go back with Ranma.  
"Lettme finish first," he said, "Anyway, there's a special mirror that existed on my world that allows you to travel anywhere ya want. However, I have no idea if it's still around. The mirror that I possessed might've been lost in that final ki-blast I shot shortly before my death. Actually, I'm damn well positive it's been destroyed because I keep it in my house and there's no way my house or anything for miles all around would had survived the blast,"  
Lina was silent.  
"There is still a possible chance that Ryoga, a friend of mine, more or less that is, could have another special mirror," he continued, "He had another version of that mirror. The only problems is that he had been missing for quite sometime. I'm sure he's okay, but there's no telling when he'll pop up. I wouldn't gamble on him coming back anytime soon. The last time I remember seeing him was around, what, seventeen years? To me, it felt like two years since fifteen of my years had been spent inside an EVA but that's another story. Regardless of that, I wouldn't bet my chances of getting back home on him and that mirror. It's your decision,"  
"That's a pretty tough decision," she said softly, starting to feel sad. There was no way she was going back, not with the thought that she might never be able to come back lingering in her thoughts.  
"It made Naga's decision rather easy," Ranma commented.  
"Y-you talked to Naga too?"  
"Yeah. She wanted to come along but she definitely doesn't want to end up staying," he said, "It only took her a few seconds to realize that she would be much happier staying here than to go with me back to my world where we have no idea what's gonna happen. Frankly, I don't even know what's in store for me. I'm sure I have no home left and I don't know what happened to my friends there,"  
Lina thought some more. There would be some benefits to her going there and having to stay there though. It would mean she would never see Naga again, ever. A definite plus in Lina's book. However, it still wasn't enough. Lina would have to leave a world she was familiar with, would have to leave her friends, her sister, and most likely her ways. She probably wouldn't be able to continue being a bandit killer on Ranma's world.  
"I'm starting to have doubts," she sighed.  
"That's good," he said, "I believe you should stay here. You're welcome to do whatever you like, but ya gotta keep in mind that I can help you oh so much. If you're stuck there, there's a good chance that there's nothing I could do. And if you don't like my world, you're basically stuck having to deal with it,"  
"But you said your world is a lot like mine," she said.  
"Yeah, our worlds are alike, but they're also different," he replied honestly, "One thing that's different is the fact that there's no magic there. No one, at least no one I have ever seen, knows how to cast magic,"  
"What about you," she said, "You can throw these things you call ki-blasts. They're very much like a fireball in many aspects,"  
"Yeah, but it's not magic," he added, "That's the main difference. You might not be able to cast magic on my world. However, the way I think about it, the worst case scenario, you'll be stuck living a normal life, not the kind of one you're living now,"  
Lina sighed, talking to herself, "What to do. What to do,"  
Ranma shrugged, "Well, I'll leave ya alone to make your decision. Hopefully, you won't regret your decision,"

Lina approached her sister, "Can I talk to you for a bit, sis?"  
"Sure, what is it?" she asked.  
Luna had been in the kitchen preparing a snack. She didn't want to cast the spell that would send Ranma back home with an empty stomach. She needed her energy, afterall.  
Lina sat down in a chair by the table in the corner of the kitchen. She tried to think of some way to bring what she had in mind up without Luna getting angry.  
"Let me guess, you want to go with Ranma back to his world," Luna commented.  
Lina smiled slightly. Sometimes, having such a perceiptive sister was a good thing. It made things much easier.  
She nodded, "Yeah, I do,"  
Luna turned around and leanded agains the edge of the table, "So, what are you going to do? You do know that you that if you go back with him, there's a chance you will never be able to come back,"  
"That's why I wanted to ask you something," she said meekly, "I was wondering...I was wondering if you could teach me how to cast that spell,"  
Luna shook her head, "It's useless my teaching you this,"  
"Why?"  
"Because you have to be the one casting it," Luna said, "You have to be the one keeping the gateway open. You can't be the one stepping through it to come back,"  
Lina said, "But I can teach it to someone there,"  
"That isn't possible either," Luna added, "Only people capable of knowing extremely powerful magic can cast that spell. No offense, but I'm not too sure even you can be able to cast that spell. It's a high level spell, right up there with those temporary immortality and absolute resurrection spells. From the way I think of things, there could be a possibility that no one from his world could cast magic," She scratched her head, "However, considering Emiko's going with Ranma, there could be a chance that she might be able to learn that spell since she's from this world,"  
"But she's a ninja," Lina sighed, "If she knew magic, then she wouldn't resort to using primitive projectiles like daggers,"  
"That's true," Luna had to nod in agreement.  
Lina sighed, "Seems like the gods are againt me,"  
"You really want to go, don't you?" Luna asked softly.  
Lina nodded, "Yeah, but as much as I would like to, I prospect of not being able to come home doesn't sit well at all for me,"  
"It's one heck of a choice," Luna said, "But hopefully, you won't regret making whatever decisions it'll be,"  
"Hopefully," Lina sighed.

"I want to come with you," Lina approached Ranma. It was very late at night and her sister was in the backyard, preparing to cast the spell that would send Ranma back home.  
Ranma semmed a bit surprised upon hearing this, "Y-you do? Do you know what you're getting into? You might never be able to come back,"  
"I know, I've thought about it a lot but I realized that I'm not some young girl that needs to restrict myself to this homeworld," Lina stated.  
"Yeah, you'll only be restricted to my world," Ranma smirked.  
Lina let out an annoyed breath, "C'mon, I'm trying to be serious here. Anyway, I realized that despite the fact that I might not be able to come back, it doesn't bother me all that much because I've been actually meaning to change my usual ways,"  
"What do you mean?" he seemed confused.  
"I've been living the life of a wandering magic user," she said, "going from place to place, looking around for adventures in hopes of striking the motherload on a treasure hunt. However, over the years, I started to realize that as enjoyable a life that it is, it's about time for a change. Maybe going to your world and not coming back could be a change for the better,"  
"Or for the worse," he added seriously.  
"You're really not making this any easier for me, Ranma," Lina said.  
"Lettme just ask ya one question...why? Why do ya wanna come to my world?" he asked.  
She was silent for several moments, wondering if she should tell the truth. She decided to lie. She said, "I believe it's time for a 'career' change,"  
"That's one helluva so-called 'career' change," Ranma commented, "However, if that's your decisions, I'll support it,"  
"Y-you do?" Lina seemed genuinely happy.  
He shrugged, "Sure, we've been through a lot over the, what, months that we've known each other. The least I could do is to help you out on my world,"  
"What do you mean? Like how?"  
Ranma smiled, "Well, although I'm pretty sure my house was destroyed in the blast, I'm positive I can get right back on my feet when I get back home. Y'see, I own businesses throughout Japan, the country where I live, so that means I'll have no problems coming across money,"  
Lina's eyes widened. She had wondered why Ranma didn't seem all that concerned with how much something would cost simply because he never really experienced financial worry before.  
"You can stay with me once I get back on my feet," he offered.  
"T-thanks," Lina said, blushing. That meant Ranma and she would be living together. It made her decisions seem not all that hard to make. It was still a hard decision though.  
Ranma smiled weakly, "Of course, you'll probably be living with a few other people,"  
"I-I will?" Lina's expression changed somber.  
"Yeah, there's Akane, the girl you saw during that memory bit Luna did for me, then there's Shinji, Rei, and Asuka. Ah, Asuka, hee hee, you're gonna like her," he chuckled. Things would definitely to get interesting. It was inevitable that Asuka and Lina were not going to get along. That would prove somewhat entertaining though.  
"Whoever this Asuka is, I'm already beginning to dislike her already," Lina's visage sullened.  
Ranma laughed. He casually placed a hand around her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine,"  
Lina, a bit unnerved by Ranma's closeness, stood very still.  
He let go of Lina in a grand gesture with his hands, mimicking as if he was choking someone, "It'll be really funny, you and Asuka'll probably be at each other's throats.  
"Hmph,"  
Ranma laughed.  
"Well, c'mon," he smiled, "Let's get going,"  
Lina followed suit.

"So what are you going to do?" Ranma asked Naga. They were in Luna's livingroom, Naga sitting on the couch, Ranma standing in the middle of the room. It was late at night and the time of Ranma's departure was soon at hand.  
"I'll simply go on with my life," Naga shrugged, sitting back on the couch, "As much as I would like a change in scenery, I have no intention of leaving this world permanantly. However, if you were to stay-"  
"Outta the question," he interrupted her, "It's like you ending up in my world and being asked to stay,"  
"I guess you have a point there," she agreed.  
He smiled, "So, how've you been feeling? I assume my little backrub helped out quite a bit,"  
She nodded in obvious agreement, "And for that, you have my absolute gratitude. I feel like a totally new person. I'm glad to have met you,"  
"So, just like that, you're going to give up on me?" Ranma smirked. He was a bit surprised that Naga would abandon her feelings toward him so quickly after she had found out she might not be able to come back.  
Naga smiled warmly, "It was merely a moment of infactuation,"  
"Ouch," he said.  
"Oh, I didn't mean to offend you," she said, "I was merely saying that perhaps in my happiness what with you getting rid of my pain, I went a bit overboard. I believe that if I got to know you better, I could easily find myself falling in love with you,"  
"Um, thanks, I think," he said after a moment, scratching the back of his head.  
"Actually, I am sure I found myself falling in love with you," she continued, "There seems to be a quality to you that I really admire. Plus, we would also have beautiful children,"  
"Gee, you're kinda puttin' me in an awkward position," Ranma smirked.  
"However," she said, "I don't wish to settle down yet,"  
Ranma waved a hand, "Hold up, you're making it seem as if you're breaking the engagment with me,"  
"That I am,"  
"We were never engaged," he said, "You, from outta the blue, proclaimed that we were to marry. That's now how things work,"  
"Are you saying you didn't want to be engaged to me?" Naga seemed hurt. How can no one want to be engaged to her? She was the most beautiful, talented, and powerful person she knew.  
Ranma laughed, "Don't even try and pull that one on me. You ain't gonna get me spouting this and that about the engagment. I'm merely gonna say 'No comment' and leave it as that.  
There was a moment of silence.  
"Well, Naga, it was nice knowing you," he began.  
"Same here,"  
"Maybe sometime in the future, if I ever find a way to come to this world, perhaps we'll bump into each other," he said.  
Naga smiled warmly, "I look forward to it,"  
Ranma held his hands outward, "Well, ain't I gonna at least have a hug goodbye?"  
Naga quickly got up off the couch and went into Ranma's arms. As she was being held in his arms, there was this great feeling of security she felt enveloping her. It was a sensation she could definitely get used to. She could easily find herself losing her herself in those strong arms of his. "Perhaps we'll meet again," he said softly.  
"Yes, perhaps sometime in the future," she said softly. When Ranma released his embrace, he smiled one last time before turning around and heading out of the room. He headed out of Luna's home and into her backyard where he saw Luna and Lina standing in the middle of a large circle about ten feet in diameter.  
"I'm going to miss you," Luna said, giving Lina a gentle embrace. Lina smiled confidently, returning the embrace, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. And I'm sure there will be a way of my getting back,"  
Luna smiled, "Hopefully," She handed Lina a small piece of paper, "Here's a little going away present. You can read it when you get there. It's the spell that can open up the gateway. You may not be able to go through it, but there's a chance someone else could and back to this world so I could at least know how you've been doing,"  
"Thanks," Lina graciously accepted it. When she walked off, Emiko approached the powerful magic-user.  
"Thank you for your hospitality," Emiko bowed politely, respectfully.  
Luna smiled and said softly, "Good luck back on Ranma's world. It seems you're going to have some competition for Ranma's affections,"  
Emiko's lips became a thin line. She had noticed Lina seemingly disliking Ranma less and less with every progressing day. Luna smirked, "You're lucky I'm not going back with you also. That way, you would at least have a chance,"  
Emiko said nothing once again. She knew that Luna seemed to share the same kind of feeling toward Ranma as herself. She was lucky that Luna wasn't going back, that was for sure. Luna could easily steal Ranma's heart. It was rather amazing how appealing Luna seemed toward the opposite sex. It made the young ninja wonder if she could ever become like her.  
"Well, I hope you enjoy your new life," Luna said after a moment.  
"Thank you," Emiko bowed again before walking to where Lina and Ranma were standing, chatting. She was going to have to disrupt that conversation.  
She didn't have a chance to do so because Ranma stopped so himself so that he could walk over to Luna so that he could say his thanks.  
He give her a hug, "Thanks for all you've done. I really appreciate it,"  
Luna whispered into Ranma's ears, "You're welcome. I'm saddened that you're leaving, but I have given Lina the spell that could allow you to come back and visit. And let's just say, they next time you do stop by, I'm going to convince you to stay and settle down with me,"  
Ranma smirked, "Whatever you say, Luna. I look forward to it,"  
"This time, I'm not teasing," she said softly, her voice serious, "You take good care, okay?"  
Ranma released his embrace, allowing for Luna to looked deeply into his eyes, "You too,"  
Luna smiled, able to briefly read Ranma's thoughts. She knew that she wasn't supposed to, but it seemed as he had purposely allowed her to accidentally look a bit too deep into his eyes.  
He walked over to where Lina and Emiko both stood impatiently.  
"What?" he said impatiently also, "I'll take as long as I please,"  
"Are you done yet?" Emiko asked.  
Ranma smirked, "Y'know what? I'm gonna take some more time, just so I can annoy you,"  
"What?" she glared.  
Ranma turned back around and walked over to Luna. She was now standing outside the circle.  
"What's up? Something the matter?" Luna asked.  
"I'd figure I'd talk to you some more so I could annoy 'em," he jerked a thumb over his shoulder.  
Luna smirked, "So you're using me to get back at them?"  
Ranma was taken aback. He held a hand up, "No. That's not it. I actually like talking to you. Annoying them is just another benefit,"  
She smiled, "Thank you, I think,"  
"I have a question," he began, "What color panties do you wear?"  
"What?"  
Ranma smiled meekly, "Actually, I was merely just trying to pass the time. The longer I pass the time, the more annoyed your sister and Emiko'll get,"  
"Well, if you really wanna know-" Luna began.  
"No, I don't," Ranma quickly said, "I was merely just asking any question that popped into my head,"  
Luna smiled.  
He scratched his head, trying to think of another question to ask, "Um, so, have ya written any new spells in your spellbook recently?"  
"As a matter of fact, I did," she nodded, still smiling.  
"What kinda spell is it?" he asked happily. He had never had trouble initiating a conversation with Luna from out of the blue, but did seem to have trouble doing so when he was forced to. Keeping a conversation was no problem though.  
She said, "It's actually probably the most useful spell I have ever written into my book. It's a self-based spell meaning it's to be casted on the user. What it does is allow a caster to cast more than one spell at a time,"  
Ranma seemed a bit surprised, "Waitaminute, you can't cast more than one spell at a time? Gee, now that I think of it, I've never seen Lina cast multiple spells before,"  
Luna shrugged, "It is possible to cast more than one spell at once, but you'll need special items to do so. To get your hands on those special items is not an easy task. They're very rare and hard to find. If you wish to buy them, it'll cost you quite a bit,"  
He whistled, "Wow, whatever that spell you can up with, it'll probably revolutionize the way magic's gonna be casted, huh?"  
Luna blushed slightly, "I guess you could say so, but it's only restricted to two spells at once, and weak spells at that. That means I can't cast a Giga Slave and a Dragon Slave at the same time, only, say, a fireball and a freeze arrow or something along those lines,"  
He shrugged, "Regardless, that's still gotta be one kickass spell,"  
Luna gave Ranma a playful punch, "Don't you ever change, Ranma. I love your colorful use of words,"  
Ranma gazed over his shoulder toward Lina and Emiko, both of whom were now very annoyed, "Well, I guess I better get back to them, they seem mighty pissed off right now. Good,"  
"Oh, they're black," Luna said.  
"Huh?"  
"They're black," she smiled, "I'm answering the first question you asked,"  
"What question was that?" he seemed confused.  
Luna sighed, "Nevermind. All right, you just go stand in the circle. You'll be wisked off to your homeworld in no time,"  
Ranma shrugged before heading back to the two awaiting girls. After a moment, his eyes widened, "Oh, your panties, they're black! Now I get it!"  
"What?" Emiko and Lina turned toward Ranma.  
Ranma grinned, "Ya gotta problem with that? Go jump in a lake if ya don't like it,"  
He turned toward Luna, "All right, what should we do?"  
"Just stay where you are," she replied, "You'll see a bright light, but when it subsides, you'll be back home on your own world,"  
All three of them nodded.  
Luna closed her eyes and began chanting in a language of magic not even Lina could understand. As she chanted, a bright blue aura surrounded her like a flame. It continued to grow until it enveloped her completely, making it look like she was burning in blue flames. Ranma, Emiko, Lina, and Naga, whom had recently stepped out of the house to watch, gazed in amazement as they saw a bright beam of light shooting down from the full moon and onto Luna, causing the aura to become even more brilliant.  
When she finished her chant, Luna shot her hands forward toward the three inside the circle as a massive wall of light shot up from the circle surrounding them.  
In an instant, the column of light disappeared, Ranma, Emiko, and Lina no longer there.  
Luna was breathing heavily, the spell having taken away a lot of her energy. She stood there for several minutes to catch her breath, all the while gazing longingly at the empty area where the three of them had been.  
Luna felt her tears starting to flow as she realized that the spell had been casted successfully, that all three of them had been sent to Ranma's homeworld and that there might be a chance she would never see them again.  
"Goodbye, everyone, I wish you a happy life," she said softly, wiping the tears from her eyes. She turned around to head into her house to cry herself to sleep but almost bumped into Naga.  
"Would you have gone with them if you could?" Naga asked sadly. She felt this sense of loss within her she had never felt before. Although she should be estatic that she would never see her archrival again, she was also saddened by the same fact.  
Luna nodded without thought, "I would if I could,"  
"It's unfortunate that you can't," Naga felt sympathy toward Luna.  
"I know...I know,"

Ranma, Lina, and Emiko appeared on Ranma's world in a brilliant flash of light. When the light died down, they serveyed their surroundings and realized that they were in the backyard of a home. It was late at night, probably somewhere around midnight and the rain was coming down quite heavily. Ranma and the two girls were already drenched before they knew it. It didn't seem to bother them one bit though.  
"Well, it looks like we made it home okay," Ranma smiled, "That's my house. It seems it wasn't destroyed in the blast afterall," Little did Ranma know that another exact replica had been erected since the previous house's demise.  
From out of the house came the welcoming committee. It came as quite a shock when Ranma saw who it was. The light emanating from the door behind him provided more than enough illumination to see who it was.  
It was Ryoga.  
So, Ryoga had finally made it home, Ranma thought with a smile. A moment later, Asuka, Akane, and Shinji came out into the backyard to see what was going on. They ended up standing only a short distance behind Ryoga.  
"What's going on?" Asuka seemed to ask at Ryoga.  
Ranma noticed that Ryoga was trying to see who the three of them was. It soon dawned on Ranma that the three of them was hidden under the shadows casted from the outter wall behind them.  
He took it upon himself to step forward and into the light.  
It was obivious that everyone immediately recognized that it was Ranma. Their eyes widened in surprise at seeing him once more.  
"Hello," he smiled warmly.  
"R-R-Ranma?" everyone seemed speechless.  
Ranma continued to smile, glad he was finally home. He was going to have one heck of a time explaining the adventure he had been on before finally making back home. To everyone, it probably looked as if he had died and just come back to life, but that was not the case.  
He smirked at Ryoga, "Ryoga, we finally meet again,"  
"R-Ranma," all he could do was studder.  
Asuka, her tears starting to flow, abandonned herself to run forward and into Ranma's arms, "Ranma! It really is you!"  
"Who the hell are you?" Lina quickly stepped forward and in between the direct path Asuka was taking to get to Ranma. She regarded Asuka for several moments, noticing that the girls seemed to be around her age and how they seemed to have the same hair color.  
"I was about to ask the same thing!" Asuka snapped. Lina noticed the challenge in the girl's voice.  
Ranma stepped forward and held a hand forward between the two of them, "Now now. No need for the two of you to fight," It only took a moment before he realized he had accidentally held his hands out and placed them on the wrong part of the female anatomy. He had had one hand on Asuka's chest and the other hand other the other female's chest.  
Ranma, knowing he was going to get the beating of his life, had decided to go for broke. He turned toward Asuka and said, "Gee, Asuka, you seemed to have grown up quite nicely since the last time I saw you,"  
Asuka quickly pulled away, clutching at her chest, her face beet-red. It was obvious that although she would have slapped Ranma with all her might, she felt flattered by the comment and her feelings of anger was clashing with her feelings of relief that he was finally back.  
Lina didn't feel at all embarrassed. She felt angry. She was about to slap Ranma when Emiko jumped in.  
"Ranma! How dare you!" Emiko stepped forward to slap Ranma in his cheek, jealous of having heard Ranma making that kind of comment to Asuka, whoever that girl was. "Whatcha do that for?" Ranma turned toward Emiko.  
"Ranma! How dare you die on me!" came Ryoga's rage driven voice. Ryoga had been deeply hurt when Ranma had died in the hospital. Because of that, he had actually gone out looking for a way to bringing him back, only to end up on some foreign world where he had been stuck for five years. "Huh?" turned toward Ryoga.  
"If you didn't die, I wouldn't have gone through what I had gone through!" Ryoga sneered. His battle aura grew a brilliant shade of red, his hands clenched into fists.  
Lina, noticing that Ryoga looked intent on attacking Ranma, quickly stepped toward the side to block Ryoga's path.  
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked. She didn't know who Ryoga was but she wasn't afraid of him either.  
A second later, Emiko stepped forward to stand in front of Ryoga also, "You leave my Ranma, alone,"  
"Your Ranma?" Asuka and Lina shouted in unison, both of them looking at the Emiko. They then all turned their attention toward Ranma. Akane and Shinji and Ryoga were also regarding him, waiting for an explanation.  
All he did was shrug, "Hey, it's a long story,"  
"That still doesn't explain the fact that you died!" Ryoga snapped. He took a step toward Ranma, his aura still burning brightly, "You're gonna pay for what I had gone through!"  
Lina shouted for Ryoga to back off. She even tried to shove Ryoga backwards but failing. It felt like pushing an immovable object. "What kinda man are you, letting females protect ya?" Ryoga shouted at Ranma from over Lina's head.  
"What the hell didja say?" Ranma found himself getting angry. Although he had been glad to see Ryoga, he was starting to think otherwise. Ryoga was Ryoga afterall. He was only tolerable in small doses. Being in each other's company for over a minute seemed to be the limit.  
"You heard me!" Ryoga taunted, "I'm gonna teach a lesson for making me go throught all the crap I went through! How dare you die!"  
"What kinda insane logic is that?" Ranma muttered, not backing down, "However, if you really believe you can teach me a lesson, give me your best shot!"  
Emiko and Lina took a cautious step back, shocked at actually seeing Ranma angry. It was not a comfortable sight. They had never really seen Ranma angry before, at least not in a way that he seemed to want to fight someone. Asuka, Shinji, and Akane seemed unbothered, the three of them knowing that Ranma and Ryoga never got along. However, this bickering was a bit uncalled for. Ranma and Ryoga hadn't seen each other in years. They should at least catch up on the times and explain their stories before trying to kill each other.  
Ryoga took off the backpack, cracking his knuckles.  
Ranma stood defiantly, "You're in for a surprise. I'm not the same person you know from two or so years ago. I've grown quite a bit over the years,"  
"And so have I," Ryoga smirked.  
"Um, I don't know who you are," Akane said in a tentative voice to Emiko and Lina, "And I have no idea what your relationship to Ranma is, but it's obvious you're not our enemies,"  
They turned toward Akane, all three of them seemingly coming to a silent agreement.  
"However," Akane added, "It looks like your friend Ranma and Ryoga here are going to fight. It could get ugly so it's best you stand out of the way,"  
Emiko and Lina looked at each other before they quickly walked away from Ranma and over to where Akane and the others stood.  
"Man, I can't wait to hear Ranma's explanation," Akane smiled a bit. She looked at them, "I'm Akane. Akane Tendo,"  
"I'm Emiko Kusanagi," Emiko introduced herself, "Just call me Emiko,"  
"I'm Lina Inverse," Lina said. She regarded Akane for a bit longer than what was expected. So she's the girl I saw in Ranma's memories, she thought to herself. She remembered having seen the projection of this girl running up to Ranma after he had been nearly killed in the ki-blast he had thrown when Luna had called forth those repressed memories of his. As she regarded Akane, Lina couldn't help but feel that Akane seemed like a nice person. Ranma and Ryoga continued to glare at each other.  
"Ya wanna fight? Bring it on?" Ranma taunted. He wanted to get this done and over with. However, he was a bit eager to actually fight. They hadn't fought in a long time and it would bring back some memories when they do. Also, he hadn't actually fought in a long time either.  
Ryoga smirked, "All right, you asked for it!"  
He charged forward and punched at Ranma's head, hoping to cave his face in. All he did was hit air for Ranma seemed to disappear right before Ryoga's very eyes.  
"W-where did he go?" Asuka's eyes widened. Ryoga retracted his hand and took a defensive posture. He stood there quietly for several moment before he turned around and punched at the empty area behind him right at head level.  
Ranma was sent crashing to the ground, sliding to a halt. He had intended to shoulder tackle Ryoga from behind, only to end up getting punched before he could actually tackle Ryoga. The momentum of Ranma running toward Ryoga and suddenly getting punched had caused Ranma to end up crashing to the ground while still moving forward, eventually sliding to a halt aften ten feet.  
Ryoga smirked, "Is that all you got?"  
Ranma got up, a bit surprised that Ryoga, had been able to hit him. He had felt no pain from the punch. Only his ego was hurt.  
He hopped onto his feet, "Damn, that was a rather good punch ya gave me there," He walked right up to Ryoga, who waited to counterattack whatever Ranma threw his way.  
"Let's see if you can counter the direct approach," Ranma grinned.  
He extended his hand forward and grabbed Ryoga by his throat, picking him up off his feet. Ryoga was a bit surprised at that kind of approach coming from Ranma. Didn't Ranma know that he should never try and take on Ryoga in actual close combat? That was Ryoga's best range because of his shear strength.  
Ryoga brought a hand up and closed it around the wrist of Ranma's outstretch arm. He gave it a good squeeze but was shocked when Ranma didn't flinch under the pressure being administered.  
Ranma laughed, "You're gonna hafta do better than that," He brought his hand forward with such force that Ryoga was sent flying bodily past the females and Shinji and into the house through the open back door. After a moment, Ryoga emerged from the house, laughing like a maniac, "You call that a punch? It felt like nothing!"  
"You're too stupid to know that it was supposed to hurt!" Ranma taunted.  
Ryoga and Ranma charged at each other.  
"Enough!" Akane said in a stern voice.  
The two of them came to a skidding halt, their fists only inches from each other's faces. They turned toward Akane.  
"That's enough fighting," she said, "The both of you have a lot of explaining to do. So, what I would want you to do is stop fighting and come in out of the rain,"  
"Fine," they both said reluctantly. They shot malice harbored glances at each other before following Akane into the house, everyond else doing the same.  
But before Ranma and the girls named Emiko and Lina entered the home, Ranma had pulled them off to the side.  
"Lina, Emiko, this is my world," he smiled, "This is my home, and for the time being, this will be your home,"  
Emiko and Lina looked at each other.  
He placed his hands on both of their shoulders, "C'mon, let's go in,"  
Ranma and everyone else was gathered around the livingroom. Everyone was sitting on the couch or a nearby love seat while Ranma paced back and forth in front of them, explaining everything.  
Ranma had spent almost three hours explaining his past adventure and his quest to get home. He told them of how he had come across and saved a girl named Rene, of how he had accidentally unmasked Emiko, of how he had fought a gray dragon that probably would had wiped the floor with him, of how Luna eventually sent him home. For the past three hours, he had been answering question. It was time that he start asking his own question. Ryoga would be giving his story afterwards.  
"What happened to Rei?" Ranma asked, "I haven't seen her all night," There was silence that seemed to pervade the room. "Yeah, what happened to her?" Ryoga asked also, "Is she all right? Is she upstairs sick or something?"  
"Who's Rei?" Emiko asked, turning her attention toward Ranma.  
"She's this girl I met a while back," he said, "It also happens that the closer I am physically to her, the more powerful I get,"  
"What?" Lina's eyes widened.  
He waved a had dismissively, "Forget about that for now. I'll explain later. What I'm interested is in what had happened to Rei,"  
Akane got up, "You might want to take a seat when you hear this,"  
Ranma's lips became a thin line, "This doesn't sound good,"  
He sat down where Akane had previously sat, regarding her intently. He had this troubled feeling in the gut of his stomach. He had noticed Akane's momentary pained expression when he has queried of Rei's whereabouts but had said nothing about it.  
"Well, now that we heard your side of the story, you can hear ours," Akane began, clearing her throat, "Keep in mind that all of this was hypothesized by Ritsuko. Since she had the most extensive knowledge of Angels and Adam and the Third Impact and all, we're basically basing all our theories on what she knew,"  
"I don't follow you," he said.  
"Also, I must mention that we have extensive footage of your battle against those final Angels," Akane continued, "It turned out that near the very end of what was called the 'Angel Wars', the military had managed to hack back into the satellite Nene had hacked into and was using it to monitor us. They recorded everything, right down to...right down to your very death,"  
"Go on,"  
Akane paused a moment to get her bearings. She hated having to bring back old memories. It hurt too much. However, she had to do this. She cleared her throat and said, "Well, shortly after you died, everyone arrived to where you lay. As we mourned your passing, Rei took off. Sylia had followed after her all the way back to NeoNerve, all the way back to the grave that once belonged to your former self. Ranma started putting things together, "Waitaminute. S-she went to Adam's grave? Did she do what I think she did?"  
Akane said softly, "Just listen carefully. Anyway, when we noticed Sylia and Rei missing, we went looking for them. We eventually found Sylia lying unconscious in front of Adam's grave. Rei was nowhere in sight and neither was the grave.  
"Oh man, then that means-"  
She nodded, "Yes. Ritsuko believed she implemented the Third Impact,"  
"What?" Ranma stood up almost violently, "The whole premise behind our battling those Angels was to prevent the Third Impact,"  
She shook her head softly, "No. It wasn't,"  
"What? What do you mean?" he asked, "I don't follow ya,"  
"It's pretty complicated," she said, "From the way it seems, the whole reason behind the attacks...was to bring you home,"  
Ranma held his hands up in front of him, "Hold up! Back the truck up! What the hell do ya mean by that? Bring me home?"  
"Ranma, the Angels attacked us because they wanted you to go back with them home to...I guess heaven or divinity or whatever you call up there," she said, pointing upward.  
"But they tried to cause the Third Impact," he said, "I remember them specifically trying to come in contact with Adam rather than try and take me away,"  
She nodded, "I know, but it seemed it was a secondary objective. Their main objective was to get to you...which they did,"  
"Go on,"  
"You know that seppukku blast you shot off at the very end?" she said, "None of the Angels had been killed in the blast,"  
"What?"  
"And all those Angels we defeated?" she continued, "None of them had ever been destroyed,"  
"Whoa whoa whoa," Ranma grasped at his words, "Y-you're saying that all that, Herb's death, Taro's death, and possibly my death...had been all for nothing?"  
Akane nodded.  
Ranma, in a fit of anger, slapped at a vase sitting off in one corner of the room. The vase shattered into tiny pieces before it even hit the wall, the watery contents wetting Ranma's right pant leg.  
"This is bullshit!" he shouted, "All that! For nothing! Herb and Taro, they're never coming back! If I had known that all of this was for me, I...I would have went with them,"  
The room was silent. Emiko and Lina were trying to follow the conversation. They knew that whatever had happened to Ranma could had had a different outcome. It seemed Ranma seemed to care a lot for these guys named Taro and Herb.  
"Don't blame yourself," Akane extended a soothing hand forward and place it on one of Ranma's forearms, "None of us knew nor saw the signs,"  
"I should've seen the signs," he said, "On several occasions, I was called Tabris. That's the same name as the seventeenth Angel. It was because I was an Angel and they simply wanted their own kind to go home. That's why they said it was inevitable, because they would eventually succeed in getting me home...which my death probably represented,"  
Akane was silent for several long moments before saying, "Perhaps. Also, there were several things Ritsuko had noticed but never figured out, not until it was already too late,"  
"What was that?"  
"Ritsuko examined the Angels and had noticed that the Angels we defeated had no core whatsoever. The core of an Angel is basically like the soul to a human being. No Angel had a core because none of them had been destoryed. They had been merely defeated and their core, their 'soul' as one would put it, seemed to be teleported back to the heavens where it could take on yet another body,"  
Ranma sat back down, "Oh man, I can't believe I'm hearing this. This is...unbelieveable. All that...for nothing,"  
"Wait, there's more," she said, "No one really knows what causing the Third Impact could do to the world, but it seems Rei had known,"  
"What do you mean?" he asked.  
"Well, it seems Rei somehow knew that causing the Third Impact would have brought her up to a divine level," she replied, "Ritsuko knew this also and so did that Gendo guy from when you, or should I say you other self, however, I'll just refer to it as you, first arrived on Misato and the other's world,"  
"Huh?"  
"I don't know who this Gendo guy was but I'm just going to relay to you what Ritsuko had said before she moved away way up north. If you remember, when you and Ryoga had come back from China with the nanban mirror, Nerv was being attacked,"  
"I remember that clearly," he said, "We had to fight of these damn EVAs. They were a pain to incapcitate let alone destroy,"  
"I'll take your word for it since I wasn't there," she said, "Anyway, if you remember, Ritsuko had been shot when you arrived at, what was that place called...'Central Dogma' if I recall correctly,"  
"That's right,"  
"Well, Ritsuko had found out of Gendo's plan to cause the Third Impact," she said, "She tried to stop him but had been shot in the process. Well, the way it turns out is that once Rei came in contact with Adamn, she would be elevated to the status of a god or perhaps even God. Well, it seems Rei knew this also and took advantage of it to start her own Third Impact, so that she would have god-  
like powers. You being here seems to confirm what Ritsuko had theorized,"  
"Oh?"  
Akane said, "She had done so so she could attain the powers to bring you back. That's why you're alive. It would also explain why you might not retain the memories of your death, because she might have felt it would be too painful for you to remember. That way, you would have went on believing you ended up in that other world because of your seppukku blast,"  
Ranma scratched his chin, "Well, that does seem plausible but that still doesn't explain why I ended in that world in the first place,"  
Akane shrugged, "I guess that's only for Rei to know,"  
"Okay, if Rei's basically God, then why don't she show up?" he said, waving his hands around, "She could give herself a grand entrance,"  
Lina raised a hand, "Actually, I might be able to explain why not,"  
"And what might that be?" Asuka said in a cold voice.  
Lina glared at Asuka for a moment before saying, "Well, there could be a chance that she can't 'visit' this world even if she wanted to. I know on my world, a god is usually stuck in some other dimension and can't visit the human world, not unless someone from the human world opens up some kind of gateway that could allow so,"  
"Okay, so what can we do to open this gateway that'll allow Rei to come back to this world?" he asked.  
"Hold up, don't you think you're jumping the gun here?" Akane cautioned him, "How in the world do you expect to do something like that? I'm sure opening a portal to the relm of the gods is no easy task. And how are we to know this is even plausible? For all we know, we could accidentally open some portal to the demon world,"  
"Well, why don't we use the nanban mirror?" Ranma asked.  
"I'm sorry, but the nanban mirror was destoryed in the seppukku blast you caused," she replied, "I don't know if you noticed it yet, but this isn't the same house we used to live in. This is an exact replica of it. Heck, the entire city surrounding us had only been recently erected. That seppukku blast you made had wiped out the entire city completely. The only thing that survived was NeoNerv, which took one heck of a beating regardless, despite the fact that it was located a mile underground,"  
"Well, how about we use Ryoga's?" Ranma jerked a thumb toward him.  
"That could actually work," Akane commented, "That mirror's taken you to not only different worlds, but to different timelines. I'm sure it should be able to do that," Ranma turned toward Ryoga, "All right, where's the mirror?"  
Ryoga reached into his backpack which had been sitting by the side of the couch and pulled out the nanban mirror. He handed it to Ranma.  
Ranma looked at the mirror and noticed it was cracked pretty badly, "Jeez, what the heck didja do to this thing? It looks like it's just about ready to break,"  
Ryoga shrugged in reply, "Hey, what can I say, the world I went to was a pretty hectic one. I'm glad it still works,"  
Ranma smirked. He turned toward Emiko and Lina, mostly to Lina, and said, "I just realized something. Ryoga actually made it home and he still has the nanban mirror. With this, that means you'll be able to go home if ya wanna. You won't have to be worry about not going back anymore,"  
"So, when are you going back then?" Asuka asked eagerly.  
Lina glared at the girl, "And just what makes you think I'm going to go back. I just got here,"  
"Well, this ain't your world," Asuka added, "You don't belong here,"  
Ranma raised a hand, "Actually, that would also pertain to me since I'm technically not from this world. I could either be from that alternate world with the EVAs, or from Lina's world if I was actually resurrected there,"  
Asuka quieted immediately, a bit embarrassed. Lina simply grinned.  
He said, "Anyway, now that we have the nanban mirror, we should try and see if we can goto where ever Rei is, and see if we could bring her back,"  
He looked down at the mirror, a bit sad, "Man, I've only been on this world only a few hours and I'm already on my way out on what could perhaps be another adventure,"  
"Y-you're leaving n-now?" Lina stammered.  
He nodded, "Yeah, but only for a little while. I'll simply find Rei and bring her back here...provided she wants to come back. I'll probably be back before you know it,"  
"Or perhaps in a couple of years like our friend Ryoga here," Akane commented.  
Ryoga blushed, "It couldn't be helped,"  
"I'm coming with you!" Asuka quickly said, getting up off the couch. Ranma had was back and she had no intention of letting him leave once again. He might never come back. She didn't want to take that risk.  
"I'm coming with you, too," Lina and Emiko said in unison.  
Ranma quickly said, "Hold up! No one's goin' nowhere with me! If Rei did want she did to bring me back to life, then it's my resposibility and obligation to see if I can bring her back. For all I know, she could be stuck in some sorta limbo and awaiting for me to get her,"  
"Or perhaps in some demon world praying that you not come looking for her for fear that it might open some rift between worlds," Akane added sullenly.  
Ranma made a laugh, "Well, fuck it! If demons start coming into this world, I'll fight 'em! I've fought boomers, EVA machines, Angels, dragons, and a whole lot more than I care to remember. A demon would simply be another addition to the long list of things I've fought. Besides, if, no, when I get her back, we'll be unstoppable,"  
"You seem awefully confident," Akane smiled warmly. That's what she liked about Ranma, his confidence. Sure, it usually turned to arrogance, but this time it was different. It was definitely confidence on his part. She was glad this Ranma was no different than the other ones in one bit.  
He smiled, "Well, considering what I've been though, I'm confident enough to know what takes priority in my life and getting Rei back is top priority,"  
"You seem very fond of her, huh?" Lina said, a bit saddened. She wondered if Ranma would ever go to such extremes to help her out. Probably not. Not by a long shot.  
He nodded, "Yeah. She means a lot to me. I would do the same for any one of my friends. If she went to such extremes to do such a deed as to saving me, then I'm going to do the exact same, provided she wants saving,"  
He walked over to the middle of the room.  
"So that's it? You're just gonna up and leave us here?" Lina asked. She felt very uncomfortable at the thought of Ranma leaving them behind. She didn't know anyone in the room. She had originally come to this world because of Ranma.  
Ranma said, "Don't worry, I'll be right back. I know how to use this mirror pretty well. It'll seem like I never left,"  
"Wait," Emiko called out.  
He sighed and turned to face her, "What is it?"  
"Lettme come with you," she almost pleaded, "You and I are supposed to be together,"  
"What?" Asuka's voice shot out.  
"Are you stupid, Asuka?" Ranma said, "Did you at all listen to my story? I told you of how I had unmasked her and how she must now marry me,"  
"I think that's a bunch of bull!" Asuka commented.  
"What did you say?" Emiko stood up, "Do you know who you're talking to?" She could very well kill Asuka in a thousand painful ways. Asuka was alive simply because she was fortunate enough of knowing Ranma and her death would most likely upset him, something Emiko did not want happening.  
Ranma held stepped in between the both of them. He did not, however, have his hands extended, "All right, enough with the fighting,"  
Both girls stopped their bickering. They looked up intently at Ranma.  
"Good, now kiss and make up," he grinned.  
"What?" everyone in the room shouted.  
"Oh, this is so cool," Shinji said eagerly, rubbing his hands together like some kind of diabolical madman.  
"Go ahead," Ranma said.  
Asuka shouted, "I'm not going to kiss her!"  
"And I'm not going to kiss her either!"  
"Do it now!" Ranma shouted.  
Emiko and Asuka leaned toward one another. They had never seen Ranma so stern about something before. They didn't want to try and cross him.  
"Whoa! Y-you're really going to do it?" Ranma's eyes widened, "I was only kidding!"  
Both girls looked at each other before quickly turning their heads away, this horrible blush on their faces. They couldn't believe what could had actually happened had Ranma not said he was only joking. What was even more surprising was how easily they had caved into his demand, despite it being so uncalled for.  
"Why you!" Emiko got to her feet, her hands clenched into fists. Asuka was also doing the same.  
Ranma held his hands up, "Don't even think about it. If would have been your fault if you had. I was merely joking around and you two actually took it seriously,"  
Neither of the two girls said anything.  
He shrugged and said, "Well, now that we're through with that lil interlude, I'm gonna get going now,"  
Before anyone else could do anything, Ranma quickly looked down at the mirror and shed a tear. "Take me to where ever Rei Ayanami is," Ranma said aloud. It wasn't necessary. All needed to do was think of his destination, but he had said it aloud instead.  
A bright light emanated from the mirror enveloping Ranma. Almost as fast as it had surrounded him, it disappeared. It was the typical way the nanban mirrored work. However, it was different this time around. Instead of the light disappearing, Ranma also disappearing along with it, Ranma stood right where he was.  
"Gee, you're right," Ryoga commented, "You were back faster than I thought,"  
"No you freaking idiot! I never left!" Ranma punched Ryoga hard in the face, sending him flying backwards where he crashed into one of the walls of the livingroom before inevitably smashing through it and outside the house and into the still pouring rain. Left behind was this huge gaping hole in the wall and to the outside world. "Aw shit! Now I'm gonna hafta fix that!" Ranma muttered.

"I dunno, but I couldn't go to wherever Rei is," Ranma said. It was pretty late into the night. Everyone was in the livingroom, as well as a very angry Ryoga. The hole in the wall had been temporarily patched with using duct tape.  
"Hey, it's like the 'Force'," Ranma had commented on his use of duct tape, "There's a dark side and there's a light side and it holds the universe together,"  
"So, if we can't get to Rei using the nanban mirror, how are we to get to her?" Akane asked. She was brainstorming for possible ways.  
Ranma yawned and said, "I dunno at the moment,"  
"Ranma, you should get some sleep, you look exhausted," Akane commented.  
He said, "I'll do that later. Right now, we hafta come up with some ways to get Rei back,"  
Akane crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Don't worry about it. You go and get some sleep. I'm going to give Ritsuko a call. She'll most likely have a plan,"  
"That's not a bad idea," Ranma agreed. He then turned toward Lina and Emiko, "All right, Emiko, you can sleep in my room room. However, considering I've been gone while this house was put up, I'm sure there's nothing in it,"  
"Actually, we manage to get everything replaced for your room as well as Ryoga's and Rei's," Akane said, "Even the clothing and the pictures hung. Asuka insisted that you would eventually come back. I guess she was right,"  
Ranma smirked, "My clothes? So, who bought my underwear and such?"  
"Um," Akane blushed slightly. It had been a group female task.  
He didn't await for an answer and turned toward Lina, "Lina, you can sleep in Ryoga's room,"  
"Where am I gonna sleep?" Ryoga asked. He didn't object to giving his room to someone else, what with him never being around, but he would at least like some place to sleep for the night. Ryoga and I'll sleep out here in the livingroom,"  
"What about Rei's room?" Akane suggested, "I mean, she no longer around. There's no need for two people to sleep on the couch if isn't needed,"  
"Fine, Ryoga can sleep in Rei's room, I'll sleep on the couch," Ranma suggested, "However, don't get too comfortable sleeping in her bed because she's gonna be back tomorrow,"  
Ryoga smiled, "I wouldn't want it any other way,"  
"All right," he said before sitting on the couch, extending his feet out. He was ready to pass out at any second. He didn't fall asleep because he quickly got back up to his feet.  
Akane said, "Um, I don't recommend you going to sleep in wet clothes. I know it's been several hours, but your clothes are still damp as well as the couch since we had been sitting on it since your arrival,"  
"Goddamnit," Ranma swore, "I know. I realized that the second I lied down," He sighed, "All right, Shinji, is it all right if you share your room with me tonight?"  
Shinji nodded, "Sure, but it'll be awefully cramped in there. I'll probably have to move quite a bit of stuff before you can get comfortable,"  
Ranma shook his head, "Nah, forget about it. I don't wanna trouble ya. Akane, how about you? Do you have the room?"  
Akane blushed slightly, "Well, yeah, but I'm a girl and you're a boy,"  
"So what?" Ranma said, "We ain't children anymore. I'll sleep on the floor while you sleep on the bed,"  
"Hey," Lina said aloud, "Why are you going to sleep on the floor now when you refused to sleep on the floor when we were sleeping together?"  
"What?" the females seemed to say at once, all of their gazes turning toward Ranma.  
He said, "It's not whatcha think, guys," He quickly changed the subject, "Okay, so we're all at an agreement?"  
"Well, not really, but I guess it's okay," Emiko said sullenly. She had a better idea. Ranma could sleep in her room, on the bed, next to her. Also, Lina could sleep outside in the rain.  
Ranma showed Lina to Ryoga's room. Lina noted that the room looked barren. It consisted of a single bed and a small desk in one corner of the room.  
"Ryoga's never really home," Ranma commented, "That means he's never really had the time to customize his room to his liking. To Ryoga, this room is just a place he sleeps in while he's staying with us,"  
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder toward the hallway, "The bathroom is just down the hallway. I'm sure I can find some clothes from Asuka's room that'll fit you. You're both the same height and build and all...well at least close to the same build," He was regarding her chest momentarily.  
"Ranma!" Lina felt the need to slap him. She hated the fact that Asuka was more endowed than her in the chest department but it had hurt when Ranma even acknowledged it.  
Ranma grinned, "Don't worry, I'm only teasing. You look fine the way your are,"  
"Um, t-thanks," Lina stammered, a bit of heat rising to her cheeks. She cleared her throat and said, "However, I don't need any clothes from...her. I'll be fine. I can dry my clothes on my own,"  
"Well, I'm sure all of us could. All we hafta do is hang it up on a clothesline outside," he commented, "But it'll take some time before it dry since the sun ain't up and it's raining,"  
"No," Lina spat, "I know of several spells that'll dry my clothes instantly,"  
Ranma smiled, "That's good to hear. I'll see you in the morning. G'night,"  
He turned around to leave but stopped when Lina called out for him.  
"Hm?" he asked softly.  
"Um, thanks," Lina said a bit softly.  
"Sure thing," he smiled.  
"Good night," she said warmly.  
"Yeah, you too,"  
Ranma went out to the livingroom where Emiko was chatting with Akane. Everyone else had gone to their own room. Emiko seemed to have some kind of respect for Akane that she didn't have for Lina nor Asuka. For Shinji, she didn't know what to think yet. He seemed like an okay person and there was no reason for her to dislike him.  
"But don't worry about it," Akane had said as Ranma approached them, "You'll hear the whole story in the future. Ranma has been through quite a bit,"  
"No need embarrassing me behind my back," he smiled as he walked up to them. He turned toward Emiko, "I'll show you to my room,"  
Emiko followed timidly behind him up the stairs and to his room. She hesitated at the entrance to the room.  
"I may be wrong, but it generally helps to enter the room if you wish to sleep in it," Ranma said sarcastically.  
Emiko seemed to be trying to hide a slight hue of embarrassment rising in her cheeks, "Um, I've never been inside a boy's room before,"  
"Don't worry, it's just like a girl's room I guess, except darker and smellier and uglier," he commented. He noticed a precariously strewn underwear resting on the bed, "Damn, everyone seemed to have recreated my room quited well,"  
When he noticed Emiko staring at the piece of clothing, Ranma said, "Don't worry, it's not worn or nothing. Keep in mind that everything in here had been recreated. This isn't my actual room. It just looks damn well like it,"  
He grabbed the loose articles of clothing and threw it in the corner of the room. He grabbed a random pair of dry clothes for the shower he intended to take in a minute.  
"You should pick up your clothes," Emiko commented, "This room's rather messy,"  
"What're ya my mother?" Ranma smirked, "Didja not hear what I just said? This is a recreation of my room. I never slept or been in the room before now,"  
"Still,"  
"Forget it," Ranma sighed. He gestured toward the bed, "Well, you know where the bed is. The bathroom is downstairs. You can take a bath or shower there. Ooh, a shower, that sounds really good right now. I noticed that there were no showers on your world, only bathtubs,"  
"A shower?" Emiko looked at him curiously.  
"Don't worry about it now," he said, "Anyway, the bathroom is downstairs and at the end of the hallway. I'll go into Asuka's room and find you some clean clothes since the both of you are the same height and build and all,"  
"Except I'm prettier, right?" Emiko asked confidently. It was probably a toss-  
up. They were both exceptionally beautiful individuals.  
Ranma laughed, "Ha, like I'm gonna answer that. I have a tendancy of saying what's on my mind, but I also know when to not say anything and keep my mouth shut,"  
"So, are you saying that you're going to say nothing because you don't want to hurt my feelings because you think that Asuka girl is prettier?" Emiko asked, her feelings seemingly hurt.  
Ranma smirked, "Maybe...or maybe I might think you're more beautiful than her and don't wanna say it for fear that you'll develop an inflated ego,"  
Emiko didn't say anything. She wondered which might be the case. Damn, why did Ranma have to be so good with words? Why did he have to see either sides of the coin so easily. What he had said made her really gave her doubts as to what he believed. Was she right or could Ranma be right?  
He smiled, "Anyway, I'll just go down the hall to Asuka's room and fetch ya some dry clothes,"  
"There is no need," Emiko said, "I'll be fine,"  
"But your clothes are wet," he commented, "Well, at least partially wet. It isn't dry though,"  
"Don't worry about it," she said.  
"Why?"  
"I said don't worry about it," she repeated, a bit annoyed.  
"Why?" he asked once again.  
"Because I'll simply sleep naked," she shouted. She blushed when she realized perhaps she shouldn't had answered that.  
"Ooh," Ranma grinned, "You're gonna be naked under those bedsheets? Maybe I'll peep on ya sometime through the night,"  
Emiko smiled, "Y-you will? Thank you!"  
"Huh?"  
"Then that means I'll know which girl you find prettier," Emiko proclaimed.  
Ranma continued to grin, "However, perhaps I might peep on Asuka while on my way to peeping in on you,"  
Emiko said nothing. If he did do that, then perhaps he found Asuka prettier than herself.  
Ranma laughed. He placed a hand on one of her shoulders and gave it a good squeeze, "I'll see you in the morning. G'night,"  
"Ranma,"  
"Yes?"  
"Thanks for everything," Emiko said, bowing, a gesture she couldn't remember ever having done toward him.  
He squeezed her shoulder one more time before letting go, "No problem,"  
"Sleep well," she said.  
"G'night," he said as he left the room.  
Ranma entered the livingroom to see Akane waiting there patiently for him, "C'mon, let's goto bed together," He smirked, surpressing a slight laugh, "Sounds kinda kinky, doesn't it?"  
Akane turned toward him, not one bit affected by the comment and said, "I don't think you should sleep in my room tonight,"  
"Huh? Why not?"  
She pointed toward the stairway, "Well, I think you should sleep in Asuka's room,"  
"Why?" Akane said in a soft voice, "Asuka seemed to have taken your death far worse than all of us. I don't think she ever got over your first death, where your other self had died in the hospital after preventing the Second Impact on her world. She still believes it was all her fault and I think she harbors hatred toward herself for what had happened. It's actually disturbing. Sometimes I hear her cry at night,"  
Ranma's visage became deathly serious, "S-she does? That's horrible. What can I do?"  
"I guess just being near her is good enough," she offered, "From your point of view, it seems like nothing had happened. However, from mine and everyone else's, it's kind of surreal,"  
"What do ya mean?"  
"It feels kind of surreal that you're actually here," she said, "Keep in mind that we had lost you twice already and here you are, standing before me for a third time. And to add to that, Ryoga's back after having been missing for so long. It all kind of feels like some kind of dream,"  
Ranma nodded slowly, "I guess you do have a point. All right, I'll go and comfort Asuka. I'll sleep in her room tonight,"  
She smiled warmly, loving him even more for his kindness, "That's good to hear. Just act normal though. Asuka's only herself when you're around. I think she enjoys having you tease her,"  
"Ain't that kind masochistic?"  
Akane giggled, "No, not like that. Your teasing her seems let her know that you're still the Ranma she knew that had died. I think it momentarily pushes aside her belief of her causing your death. It seems to give her a role in this new life of hers, to be angry at you all the time. I think that's how it's like between you and Ryoga. You'd feel less meaning in this life if he wasn't around to challenge you every step of the way,"  
"I wouldn't bet on it," Ranma smiled, "I spent quite a bit of time on that other world and didn't miss him one bit,"  
Akane nodded a bit, "Perhaps, but I betcha you were very happy to get in a fight with him after such a long time of not seeing him,"  
Ranma opened his mouth but said nothing. That was very true.  
"You don't have to say anything," she said, "You're silence is more than enough. Anyway, go sleep in Asuka's room tonight. Go make up some excuse on why you couldn't sleep in my room, okay?"  
"All right,"  
Akane took it upon herself to stand on her toe and give Ranma a gentle peck on the cheek, "I'm glad you're back,"  
Ranma rubbed his cheek, this heat in the cheek that Akane kissed, "Um, yeah, I'm glad to be back,"  
"Good night," she said before heading upstairs and disappearing into her room.  
"G'night," he said.  
Ranma headed down the hallway to the bathroom where he took a shower. As the water cascaded over his body, he felt his worries and exhaustion wash away. When he was finished, he no longer felt that sense of misery usually accompanied when wearing wet clothes.  
Ranma headed up the stairs and up to Asuka's room. He waited a minute or so before knocking. The door opened to reveal Asuka, clad in a pair of shorts and a low cut blouse to would reveal quite a bit of cleavage if she were to ever lean forward. "R-Ranma," Asuka seemed surprised, "What's wrong?"  
He jerked a thumb toward Akane's room, "Akane's room is a mess. There's no room for me to sleep. I was wondering if I could sleep in here for the night?"  
Asuka's heart skipped a beat. She looked back over her shoulder. Her room was also a mess. Ranma would have no room. The floor was strewn about with books and clothes. Although she was usually clean, her room seemed to take on a habit of always being messy.  
"Oh, that's unfortunate," he said in mocked disappointment when he looked over her shoulder and at the mess, "It looks like I can't sleep in here either,"  
"Wait," Asuka quickly said, "I-I can make some room. Just hold on one second,"  
She quickly proceeded to shove and push the books and clothing out of the way. Ranma watch with a bit a sadness in his eyes. It seemed his death had gotten to Asuka quite a bit. Although it was very subtle to anyone else, it was very evident to someone like Ranma, who could perceive things as subtle as a persona's rate breathing while talking.  
Ranma placed a hand on Asuka's shoulder and noticed that Asuka's head almost instincitively tilted toward it, as if she was just trying to enjoy the warm it provided.  
"There's no need," he said.  
"Don't worry," she said, turning to face him, "The mess isn't much. It's no problem,"  
"Actually, if you don't mind, is it allright if I sleep in the bed with you?" he yawned, "I know it'd be a bit close but I'm really tired,"  
Asuka's eyes widened, "I-in my bed? With me? Um...o-okay, I g-guess,"  
Ranma slipped into Asuka's bed from one side. The bed was warm. Asuka must had been sleeping in before he had knocked on her door and awoken her. He lay on his back, gazing up at the ceiling, his hands resting behind his head.  
"Don't worry, I'll sleep above the covers," he said.  
Asuka reluctantly got into the same bed as Ranma from the other side and slipped under the covers. Ranma's weight was causing the bed to sag slightly toward him, Asuka very well aware of this because she felt herself almost sliding toward him. When Ranma felt Asuka's body brushed against him, he smiled inwardly and turned toward Asuka, "Hey, cantcha stay on your side of the bed? I can feel you trying to brush your leg against me,"  
"W-what?" Asuka said loudly, "I am not,"  
"And considering you're under the bedsheet, I have no idea where your hand could be while you're rubbing against me," he commented, "For all I know, you could be playing with yourself underneath the blankets while rubbing your leg against me,"  
"I am not!" Asuka shouted, sitting upright, heat flooding to her cheeks.  
"Well, considering you are a perverted lil girl, it wouldn't surprise me," Ranma smirked, sitting upright, "I remember you stealing my underwear way back then,"  
"I was looking for the nanban mirror!" Asuka shouted.  
"Sure you were," he said sarcastically.  
"Fuck you!" she shouted. kicking Ranma out of her bed. He ended up crashing to the floor in a loud thud. Although unhurt, he rubbed at his side as if it hurt.  
"What the hell didja do that for?" Ranma spat, "That hurt!"  
"Good! You can sleep on the floor for all I care!" she shouted.  
"Hmph," Ranma muttered back, "I think I will! It's much better than sleeping up there in a bed with some girl that's probably gonna play with herself underneathe the bedsheets!"  
"I was not!" Asuka shouted. She got up and kicked Ranma in the ribs, "Get the hell outta my room! You can sleep on the wet couch for all I care!"  
Ranma closed a hand around the ankle of her foot as it connected with his side. He stood up to his full height, causing Asuka to become dangling upside down by one leg from his outstretched hand.  
"Let's see ya kick me again," Ranma smirked. Asuka kicked at Ranma's wrist, hoping to inflict enough pain to cause him to let go. In the process of kicking at him, waist portion took on the course of gravity and came down and over Asuka's head, exposing Asuka's breasts. She quickly grabbed the shirt and pulled it up toward her waist to conceal her breasts.  
"Oooh, I saw those," Ranma smirked, "I figured you weren't wearing a bra under that blouse but now I know for sure that you don't!"  
"Lettgo!" Asuka shouted, using both hands to hold her blouse in place and the other leg to kick at Ranma's leg.  
Ranma let go, Asuka falling down onto the bed. She quickly scooted over toward the end of the bed and to safety, this look of malice in her eyes.  
"Had enough?" Ranma smirked.  
"Get out!" she said.  
Ranma stood where he was, crossing his arms in front of his chest.  
"Get out!" Asuka shouted again.  
Ranma shrugged and turned around, "All right, I'll go sleep in Emiko or Lina's room then,"  
"What?" she gasped, "No you won't!"  
He turned toward her, "And just why not?"  
Asuka was silent. Her visage steeled as she turned her head away in disgust and said, "Fine, go ahead. See if I care,"  
Ranma walked toward her and leaned forward, his face coming inches from hers, "Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?"  
"I am not jealous! Why the hell would I be jealous of some asshole like you?" she spat.  
He smiled, "Not jealous of me. But of Lina and Emiko because I'm gonna be sleeping in one of their rooms tonight,"  
"I am not!"  
Ranma figured this was more than enough teasing done on his part. It was time to make amends. Asuka was definitely her old self now. He pretended surprise, "Y-you're not?"  
"No way!" Asuka lied, caught up in the moment.  
Ranma shrugged, "Well, I guess there's no reason for me to sleep in their rooms,"  
He sat down on the bed, which casued Asuka to scoot over, not really sure what to do. He stretched out to his full length, gazing up at the ceiling.  
"Ah, what's the use. You're so stubborn," he said, "I'll just continue and sleep here,"  
He closed his eyes, "G'night, Asuka,"  
"Huh?" Asuka seemed terribly confused. It took several long minutes before she realized that Ranma didn't seem to really care where he slept. In no time, she realized he was asleep right next to her, in her bed. Figuring that perhaps their intense, albeit brief, conflict had ended in some kind of compromise, whatever it was, Asuka slowly slipped herself back under the covers. Once against, she was aware of the bed leaning toward Ranma's side due to his weight. After a few twists and turns, she managed to get into a position where she would not accidentally roll over and end up brushing against him.  
Just as she was getting comfortable, Ranma turned over onto his side, facing her. The movement had caused one of his arms to move over Asuka, her head becoming snuggled against the the crook of his neck and shoulder.  
Asuka held her breath for close to two minutes before she started to breath again. Her heart was racing at a mile a minute. She was ever so aware of Ranma's warmth, of the shampoo he had used from the shower a short while ago, of his closeness.  
She was also very aware of this feeling of absolute protection from the world, of security, of warmth. It was a feeling she had rarely ever felt before. The last times she had ever felt that feeling before was when the two of them had been in Antarctica and she had been forced to chare the same sleeping bag with Ranma. Although she hated to admit it, she had never felt so safe before in her life before. She was experiencing the same feeling.  
She sighed. She could get used to this feeling. It was good to have Ranma back. This really isn't a dream.  
Ranma, awake the whole time, smiled as he felt the tension leaving Asuka's body. It seemed Asuka was glad he was finally back. In no time, she would be comfortable with him being back. She had already reverted back to her old self, which was basically simply her believing Ranma a annoyance that seemed to grow exponentially with every passing day.  
Ranma smiled, now relaxed and ready to let sleep bestowe him. He knew that he was going to be in for trouble when someone, whoever it was, enters Asuka's room and finds her and Ranma snuggled together.  
He would worry about that later. Asuka needed him right now.  
She better appreciate this, he thought. When he was the steady rise and fall of her chest, he knew it was going to be worth it.  
Damn, the things I do for this girl.

New stuff 5/30

Akane was on her way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast when she heard a familiar sound she hadn't hear in over a year. She had glanced out the back door to catch sight of Ranma doing his morning katas in the backyard.  
She smiled, this warm sensation in her heart. The normality of the situation made her happy. It had surprised her at first because she had been expecting Shinji to be out back practicing, not Ranma.  
Ranma had been in the middle of executing a high kick when he caught sight of Akane watching in from the back door. With his leg still held high in the air, he pivoted with his planted foot to face Akane. He held it there for a second or so before finally putting it down.  
"G'morning," he smiled, "You're up early. It's only, what, six in the morning?"  
She nodded, "Yeah, around there. How was your sleep?"  
He said, "Okay. It felt a bit odd sleeping right next to Asuka but she didn't seem to mind. Heck, she even screamed and kicked me out of the bed this morning when she found me there. I guess she's back to her usual self,"  
"That's good to hear," Akane said, "Well, I'm going to start making breakfast, is there anything you would like me to make you?"  
Ranma entered the house, following Akane into the kitchen, "How sweet of you to ask. It's as if we're married,"  
Akane shrugged, "As a matter of fact, before the Angels attack, we actually kinda lived like some married couple," He walked over the the fridge and searched through it. He ended up taking out a dozen eggs, three boxes of sausages, and a pack of bacon, "Ah, the essential morning breakfast,"  
Akane shook her head, "You do know that none of that would be there. We'd be eating a traditional Japanese breakfast if it were for the fact that Shinji seemed to have grown this aquired taste for food eaten oversea in the States,"  
He sat down by the table, regarding Akane for a moment, still smiling.  
"What?" she asked after a moment, a bit nervous from Ranma's scrutiny.  
He shook his head, "Nothing. Nothing at all. I was merely thinking about how much you've changed over the years. Y'know, of how you're taking care of Shinji and Asuka, of how you're willing to prepare breakfast, of how you're watching over the children as if they were your own. It's very feminine and I kinda like it,"  
Akane blushed, "Um, thanks,"  
She busied herself by preparing breakfast. For some reason, the kitchen seemed to feel a whole lot smaller now that Ranma was in it. It felt even smaller when she stole glances in his direction and saw him ragarding her intently, continuing to smile warmly.  
The tension in the kitchen seemed to be broken when Shinji, half-awake, entered.  
"G'morning, Shinji," Ranma smiled.  
Shinji seemed to freeze in mid-step when he caught sight of Ranma. So it hadn't been a dream. Ranma had come back. He stood several moments before he managed to get his bearings and remember Ranma's return and the story he had told them.  
"Good morning," he said, sitting down in the seat next to Ranma. He looked up at Akane, "Good morning, Akane,"  
"You too," she said as she continued to cook.  
"So it really wasn't a dream," Shinji commented.  
He nodded, "Yep. You're right about that. I'm back all right,"  
"And those two girls I saw?"  
"Emiko and Lina? They're real also," he replied, "Dontcha remember? Emiko's sleeping in my room while Lina is sleeping in Ryoga's,"  
Shinji's eyes widened, "Oh yeah, Ryoga's back also,"  
Ranma chuckled, "I guess last night was quite a bit to take in at once, what with me and Ryoga coming back on the very same night only minutes from each other, as well as my bringing along two people,"  
"I guess so,"  
"You're up a bit early, aren't ya?" he asked, "Dontcha usually sleep in as late as you could?"  
Shinji nodded, "Well, I used to do that. I'm usually wide awake now and practicing in the backyard. However, since we all stayed awake pretty late, I guess I must have overslept,"  
Ranma seemed genuinely interested, "You're practicing now? You're doing it everyday?"  
Shinji nodded, "Yeah. I'm actually pretty good. Akane's taught me quite a bit since the last time you saw me,"  
"That's great!" Ranma said gleefully.  
"Shinji's a really quick learner," Akane said, "In a few years or so, it'll probably be the other way around where he'll be the one teaching me,"  
Shinji blushed, "Um, thanks,"  
Ranma jerked a thumb toward the backyard, "Ya wanna show me whatcha go? How 'bout it? Ya up for a little sparring match?"  
Shinji quickly raised his hand, "N-no. I can't. I'm n-no match. I'll nowhere near your l-level,"  
He shrugged, "Don't worry about it. The way I think about it, you should always fight against stronger opponents because only then will you become stronger and better,"  
Shinji looked at Akane.  
"Go ahead," Akane said, "Have a little match. You're already the top of the class. As good as you are, fighting against Ranma can help find ways to perhaps improving your skill,"  
He sighed. He didn't really want to. As good as he was, Shinji was no match for Ranma, not even a blindfolded one with his hands tied behind his back.  
"All right, I'll give it my best," Shinji said sullenly.  
"I expect nothing less," Ranma smiled.  
Shinji and Ranma headed outside to the backyard. Although they should be fighting in the dojo, it was a nice morning out and it seemed better to battle outdoors.  
Ranma stood in a passive stance, "All right, give me your best shot,"  
Shinji reluctantly got into his battle stance. He slowly inched toward Ranma, awaiting for the right opportunity to attack. He slowly circled around him.  
Emiko yawned as she entered the back porch where Akane had been eagerly watching the two opponents circle each other. Emiko was dressed in her regular clothes. "What's going on?" she asked.  
Akane didn't bother looking up at the young ninja. Rather, she continued to lean against the doorjamb, "Ranma and Shinji are about to sparring against one another,"  
"Interesting," Emiko commented, "Why are they fighting?" She found it a bit odd that Ranma was only on this world for on day and he was already fighting for his second time. It seemed he was prone to fighting on this world.  
Akane shrugged, smirking a bit, "Y'know how it is. Boys will be boys. They want to improve on their fighting abilities. I think they just wanna impress us females with their prowess,"  
Emiko smiled slightly. That was a rather amusing comment. That actually sounded like there was some truth to it. She watched as Shinji continued to circle around Ranma, doing so until he was actually facing Ranma's back.  
"Well, are you going to attack?" Ranma asked, continuing to stand in place.  
Shinji darted forward at a speed that even surprised Ranma. It had been the vast improvement of his speed that Ranma had found surprising, not the actual speed itself. To Ranma, he could see the attack coming from a mile away.  
The young boy punched at Ranma's lower back, only to suddenly find his extended hand intercepted by one of Ranma's hand and pushed away. The sudden change of his momentum and caused Shinji to lose his footing. He stumbled forward and fell forward onto his hand. However, he had managed to react just quick enough to plant his hands firmly onto the ground and pivot his entire body around, bringing a leg around in a wide arc in an attempted sweep.  
Ranma simply lifted one of his legs, Shinji's attempt sweep sailing right underneath. The miss had caused Shinji to lose his complete balance and go tumbling head over feets a meter or so away from "You okay?" Ranma asked, walking over to where Shinji was as he proceeded to get back up to his feet.  
Shinji wiped the dust and dirt from his clothes, "Yeah, I'm fine. I was kinda expecting to have hit you with that attempted sweep and seemed to have committed way too much into that attack,"  
"You tried to sweep me?" he asked, "When didja try and do that?"  
Shinji said, "Just a second ago. You lifted your leg and I missed,"  
"I lifted my leg?" Ranma seemed confused.  
"Yeah," Shinji nodded.  
"I didn't even realize I had done that," he said, "Well, I guess that shouldn't really be all that surprising. My body tends to react sometimes on its own. I guess that was a good example,"  
Akane emerged from the house, "You two finished sparring yet?"  
Ranma looked at Shinji, "We still sparring?"  
"Nah, I had enough," he said, "I'm willing to spar against opponents actually better than me, but I think I'm gonna hafta draw the line when an opponent isn't even aware of reacting to my attacks,"  
Emiko emerged from the house, "That battle seemed very intense, although it had only lasted a second," She was being truthful. When she passed by Shinji to go stand by Ranma's side, she gave him a smile. From what she had seen, she already knew that this young boy was a very gifted individual and would be a very worth adversary in due time. Of course, he was no where near her own skill level but that would probably not be the case in a few months or so.  
She had to respect Shinji's skill. "Morning," Ranma smiled, "Ya sleep well?"  
"I slept fine," she answered with a smile of her own. She liked the attention.  
Ranma turned toward Shinji.  
"Well, Akane's taught you well," he said, "You did come close to almost hitting me from behind. You're a lot faster than I last remembered. You've improved a lot over the past year or so,"  
"Thanks," Shinji said.  
"What going on out here?" came a voice from behind the group. Everyone turned toward the voice's direction.  
It was Lina.  
She was clad in her usual attire, her cape and long mane of hair flowing in the cool morning wind. She looked like she had just woken up, her hair a bit mussed.  
"G'morning. Shinji and I were sparring just a moment ago," Ranma said.  
"Morning," Lina said. She walked past Shinji and Akane to stand by Ranma's other side, "So, who won?"  
Ranma shrugged, "No one, I guess. We were only sparring. No one was trying to win,"  
"What's that smell? Is something burning?" Emiko asked to no one in particular.  
Akane's eyes widened, "Oh no! The food! I forgot all about it!"  
"Don't worry," Ranma told Lina and Emiko, "She's not usually like this. She actually make really good meals. I guess me and Shinji's sparring match had caused her to forget,"  
"Gee, you think?" Lina asked sarcastically, "I'm sure her saying that she forgot has nothing to do with your hypothesis,"  
Ranma's eyes narrowed, "You know what I mean,"  
Everyone entered the house just in time to see as Akane dumped the contents of the burnt breakfast in the garbage can. They had managed to get a good glimpse of the burned food. It was obviously burned an unsalvageable.  
Akane sighed, "Man, I can't believe I did that. It's been close to a year since I last screwed up a meal,"  
Ranma smiled and said in a warm voice, "Don't worry, Akane, everyone makes mistakes. Look at me, I make mistakes all the time,"  
"You can say that again," everyone in the kitchen seemed to say at once.  
"Hey," Ranma muttered, "What's that supposed to mean?"  
Everyone looked at one another before they started laughing.

"I called everyone early this morning," Akane said during their breakfast meals. Everyone was gathered around the table, even Asuka. Ryoga wasn't there though. He was either asleep or had gotten lost on his way to the bathroom.  
Asuka seemed to have a happy look in her eyes that Emiko and Lina didn't like. They had no idea why that girl was so happy. All they knew was that seeing her happy didn't make them feel happy.  
Ranma spoke with his mouth full, "And? What did they say?"  
"Everyone's on their way here," Akane answered, "They said they were all going to take the first available plane here. They're very eager to meet you,"  
"Who?" Emiko asked.  
"Their names are Linna, Nene, Sylia, Priss, Misato, Ritsuko, and Lisa," Akane said names in no particular order, "They all knew Ranma from a while back and keep in contact with him,"  
Lina noticed Asuka staring at her, "What?"  
"Nothing," Asuka shrugged, not one bit intimidated. She continued to stare a smirk on her lips that seemed to really annoy Lina.  
"Do you have a staring problem?" Lina glared back.  
"Not really," Asuka grinned, "I was merely making an observation on how my breasts are bigger than yours,"  
"What?" Lina's eyes widened, "Why you!"  
Ranma spit out the drink he was drinking. He turned toward Asuka, a bit irked, "What the hell kinda comment is that? Are you trying to start a fight with Lina here?"  
"You better not!" Lina sneered, getting up out of her seat, her hands clenched into fists, "You don't know who you're dealing with! I know of a thousand painful ways to kill you. If I were you, I wouldn't get on my bad side,"  
"If I were you, I'd go out and look for a wonderbra," Asuka retorted, standing up.  
Ranma stood up, "Enough!"  
Emiko smiled inwardly. This was rather amusing. It seemed Ranma was angry at both Asuka and Lina. That meant he wasn't angry at her since she did nothing wrong.  
"What the hell are you laughing at, ninja girl?" Asuka narrowed her eyes toward the girl.  
"Holy shit! Will you three stop fighting?" Ranma said loudly and in a firm voice, almost slamming his hand through the table, "I will not tolerate any fighting in this house,"  
Akane continued to eat while Shinji watched in eager anticipation. He had never actually seen two girls get into a fight before, let alone three. He heard that seeing women fight was quite a sight to behold.  
The girls seemed to continue to glare at each other, seemingly ignoring what Ranma had said.  
"Hey! Did anyone hear?" Ranma snapped, "I will not tolerate any fighting in this house!"  
The three girls seemed to cringe from the sudden show of anger. They meekly sat back down, deathly silent. "If you're gonna fight, that's what the dojo is for," he said before going back to his eating.  
"What's that in your pocket?" Ranma asked when he noticed something peeking out of one of Emiko's pockets. He was on his way to his bedroom when he had passed Emiko as she was on her way down the stairs.  
Emiko looked down, "What? What're you talking about?" When she noticed something was popping out of her pocket, she quickly shoved it away, this deep blush on her cheeks.  
"N-nothing!" Emiko stammered, taking a step back, her hand deep in the pocket.  
Ranma reached into Emiko's pocket while her hand was still in it. He pulled out what seemed like an article of clothing. He only needed to inspect it for one second before he recognized what it was.  
"What the? T-that's my underwear!" he said in surprise, "W-what the hell do you h-have this in your pocekt?"  
"I swear, I don't know where it came from!" Emiko held her hands up defensively, her face tomato red from embarrassment.  
Ranma said, "Yeah right you don't! It came from my room...the same room where you slept in last night! I can't believe you were trying to steal from my room,"  
"I didn't do it!" Emiko said, "I'm telling you the truth!"  
Ranma shoved the pair of underwear in his pocket, "Whatever you say,"  
He up the stairs and down the hallway to his room.  
Emiko seemed absolutely mortified as she stood there. That was perhaps the single most embarrassing moment in her life.  
"H-how the heck did t-those get there?" Emiko asked herself. She had not put those in her pocket. She would never have done something so perverted as stealing Ranma's underweard.  
Asuka was on her way down the stairs when she saw Emiko staring there, seemingly in this state of shock. She stopped when she was on the same step as Emiko and smirked at her.  
"I assume Ranma found the underwear I stuffed in your pocket, ne?" Asuka grinned.  
"Y-y-you did it? I-I'll kill you!" Emiko pulled out a dagger, ready to plunge it into Asuka's heart. However, she stopped when she realized that Ranma would probably not take it lightly to her killing Asuka. Besides, Ranma didn't want them fighting inside the house.  
Asuka didn't seemed at all threatened by the weapon pointed toward her. She was very skilled in martial arts and would be able to disarm Emiko with ease. She continued to grin, "Remember, Ranma didn't want any fighting in the house. I guess you're going to have to learn to cope with it. I sure did,"  
Emiko sneered at Asuka, "You're a dead girl! You're going to regret having embarrassed me like that!"  
"Try your best!" Asuka taunted, "In a battle of wits, it's obvious that you're outgunned,"  
"Why you!" Emiko bared her teeth.  
Ranma made his way down the stairs, done with putting his underwear back away in his bedroom. He stopped when he noticed Emiko and Asuka glaring at one another.  
"I hope none of you intend to fight, right?" Ranma cautioned them in a dark tone, "It would be very unfortunate it the two of you were to go against my wishes and start a fight. Let's just say you wouldn't want that to happen,"  
"Of course not," both girls said in unison. They smiled innocently as if such sweet girls such as themselves could never do evil.  
Ranma's eyes narrowed as he gazed at them in suspicious. He smiled warmly before heading down the stairs and disappearing around the corner down the hallway. When he was gone, Asuka and Emiko turned back to glare at each other.  
After a moment, Emiko puased to ask a question, "Um, just curious, but what would Ranma do if we actually did break the rules? What if he caught us fighting?"  
Asuka paused for a moment, "I don't really know. Knowing Ranma, he'll probably strip us naked and carry us through town, one of use under each of his arm, and say something like 'Who wants to buy these girls off me? If you buy one, I'll throw in the other one for free',"  
Emiko and Asuka seemed to shudder. That was definitely something Ranma would do. It would be most embarrassing. And what was worse was that that would be Ranma going easy on them.  
After a moment of contemplation, they resorted to glaring at each other.  
"You better watch your back, though," Emiko sneered, "I'll get back at you for what you did,"  
"We'll see,"

Akane sighed, "This is horrible,"  
"What's horrible?" Ranma asked. He and Akane were sitting alone in the livingroom.  
"Lina, Asuka, and Emiko are playing practical jokes on one another," she said, "Because you said they are no to fight, they seem to be venting their dislike of one another through practical jokes,"  
"Oh, that, yeah, I know," he shrugged, "Just leave 'em be. They'll get bored and eventually realize how stupid it is and stop,"  
"You know?" Akane regared Ranma.  
He nodded, "Yeah. I overheard a conversation between Asuka and Emiko,"  
He sat down on the couch, his legs resting on the furniture. When Akane noticed this, Ranma put his feet down, "Jeez, I can't even relax in my own house,"  
"So, what do you plan on doing with Asuka and Emiko?" Akane asked.  
He smiled, "That's easy. I'll just leave 'em alone. They'll eventually stop,"  
"And if they don't?" she asked.  
"Don't worry, they will," he said confident.  
"And if they don't?" she asked again.  
"If they don't stop by next week, then...I'll marry you and brush all the other females off," he said. Since he knew they were going to stop, he might as well make an outrageous claim.  
"W-w-what?" Akane blushed.  
He shrugged, "That's how confident I am that they will stop," He scratched the back of his head, "Hm, maybe I should have said something like 'Then I'll make sure they stop' but I guess what I said seems to have a more dramatic effect.

"Emiko," Akane approached the young ninja. "Yes?" she looked up. She was sitting on the couch in the livingroom, reading this magazine. The others were going about their business in some other part of the house.  
Akane noticed it, "Ah, I see you found 'Women of today'. It's a magazine dedicated to women,"  
"It has some very very interesting things in it," Emiko commented, "This book seems to be some collection of women's adventures and their opinions on men. Some of the opinions I find really funny and some I find them to hold quite a bit of truth to it,"  
Akane smiled, "Well, I'm glad you like it,"  
"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked.  
Akane nodded, "Oh yeah. I'd like for you to do me a favor,"  
"What is it?" Emiko asked. Although she would never do favors for anyone, ever, she felt she might be able to help simply because Akane was a nice person. Akane had this guardian angel-like quality to her, as if she seemed to be constantly on the look out of Emiko's well being.  
Akane didn't know where to begin. She figured rather than just ask the favor, she would slowly make her way up to it. She said, "It seems you and Asuka aren't getting along,"  
Emiko's eyes narrowed, "I guess you could say that," She felt the muscles around her jaws tightening. Just hearing that girl's names brought Emiko's voice to a boil. How dare she embarrass her like that before!  
"You seem to be fighting a lot," Akane commented.  
Emiko's eyes widened, "W-we are? N-no we're not!" She didn't want Akane to know of the practical joke Asuka had played on her. That would mean they were fighting and Akane would go tell Ranma and Ranma would be angry at her and Asuka. Emiko didn't want him angry at her.  
Akane smiled warmly, her smile confiding, "Don't worry, I know about that, um, underwear incident,"  
"You do?"  
She nodded, "Yeah. Um, Asuka's got this tendancy to play practical jokes. There's two ways you can deal with it. You can either grin and bear it, or you could have it where she falls for one of your practical jokes,"  
Emiko was silent. She had actually had something in mind.  
"Don't worry," Akane smiled, "Whatever you had in mind to get back at her, I'm sure it'll be good. Don't worry, I won't tell Ranma. Sometimes, I think Asuka needs to taught a lesson, that's all. If you get her good, or enough times, perhaps she'll finally stop,"  
Emiko turned toward Akane, "Really? You really mean it? You won't tell?"  
Akane nodded, "Your secret's safe with me. Just a couple of things though,"  
"What is it?"  
"Don't let Ranma know of our conversation," she said, "And don't have the practical jokes cause any harm, just embarrassment. Ranma doesn't really mind practical jokes, but when they cross the line and border on dangerous, he's going to get angry,"  
Emiko nodded, "Okay. I understand,"  
Akane smiled, "All right. Well, good luck," She then turned around left the room, smiling to herself.  
This is going to be an interesting week, she though. Heh, Ranma and I will be married by next week if this keeps up.

It was around midmorning as Emiko sat in the livingroom. Lina was taking a bath, not having discovered that the stall in the corner of the bathroom could be used as a shower. Akane and Ranma were chatting on the back porch about the elapse of time. Ryoga was probably still lost. Shinji and Asuka weren't home because they had gone out to college. It was oddly amusing that the two children had chosen Tokyo University. That college had been destroyed well over a decade ago in the Second Kanto Earthquake and erected just a few miles away, making the college even close to Ranma's home than ever before since MegaTokyo was Tokyo.  
When the college had been destroyed in Ranma's seppukku blast, it had been rebuilt for the second time but in the same place as where it used to be. Ranma's seppukku blast had created a clean slate for Japan to start all over. It seemed the citizens of Japan had no doubts about the recreation of Tokyo from a long time ago, a Tokyo before all those techonological advances by the corrupted megacorporation, Genom.  
Ranma would find it very easy to navigate through this city once he decided to go check the town out. The only difference between the old Tokyo and the new Tokyo was its name. This city was now named after one of its district, Nerima. The Nermia Massacre, which resulted in an entire city's destruction due to only a few rogue boomers symbolized the wrong path Japan had gone down.  
This city had been erected to symbolize Japan trying to start all over and going down a different path.  
"Wow," Emiko commented, her gaze intent on the television before her as she sat on the floor, her back leaning against the front of the couch. About an hour ago, after she had finished her bath, she had noticed a weird black object on the couch and had picked it up. Not knowing what the buttons on it had been, she began to randomly press them, eventually turning the television on.  
At first startled, she watched the television. When she realized it seemed to be so window to the outside world, she sat down and had been watching it ever since.  
Finished with her bath, Lina had come into the room and noticed Emiko. "What's that?" she asked.  
"It's some kind of window to the outside word," Emiko didn't even bother to face Lina and said, "It seems kind of weird though because the people seen through this window don't really seem human. They're not the same skin color as ourselves,"  
Lina sat down on the couch, watching the television. She found it every bit as fascinating as Emiko did. It seemed this window showed of a man fighting the forces of evil as if her were some superhero.  
Ranma entered the room, "What's up guys?"  
"This thing is amazing," Lina commented, "It's as if you can see what's going on elsewhere on this world without having to cast a spell,"  
Ranma laughed. Lina's naivete was heartwarming. He walked over and sat down on the other side of the couch, leaning back.  
"That's whatcha call a television," he commented.  
"How come the people look a bit weird?" Emiko asked.  
Ranma laughed once again, "That's because you're not watching live actors. You're watching something called 'anime'. It's great stuff. I like it but Akane doesn't understand me and why I would like something that she believes is meant for kids. But I'm not gonna sweat it. I'll simply take her to an anime convention. She'll fall in love with it in no time,"  
Ranma picked up the remote, a grin on his face, "Now, if you wanna see what the real world is like,"  
He pushed a few buttons. The image on the screen got replaced by a very different one. It only took a few seconds before the two girls realized that the image they were seeing on the screen belonged to a part of the female anatomy with something belonging to the male anaotmy going in it.  
"Heh, porn," Ranma smirked, "Ya gotta love it,"  
Lina and Emiko stared at the screen in shock. It was like seeing some horrible accident. They knew they shouldn't look but they couldn't bring themselves to look away.  
Their jaws were wide open as they could hear the girl and man on the screen moaning. There was this huge blush on their cheeks. This was something neither of the girls had ever seen before. They had only heard stories about this stuff.  
Akane entered the room. "What the hell are you showing them that for?" she shouted.  
Ranma turned around on the couch and toward Akane and noticed her glowering. He stood up, a bit scared for his life but willing to face the challenge, and said, "I was merely showing 'em the many wonders of television. Porn is one of them,"  
"I didn't even know we had that!" Akane said, "Leave it to your sick and perverted mind to stumble upon it,"  
Ranma shrugged, "Hey, I only clicked on a random channel. Ya can't blame me for doing that,"  
"Oh yes I can!"  
"Hey, isn't not like it's hurting them any," Ranma said.  
"What the hell's wrong with you men?" Akane narrowed her eyes, "It seems to be videogames and porn,"  
"Don't forget anime," he added with a smile.  
"Turn the channel!" Akane said, "You should not have Emiko and Lina watching this,"  
Ranma didn't turn the channel, at least not yet, "You're not their mother. They're not little children,"  
"Turn the channel!" she said in a very low voice.  
He gulped and turned the channel. He hit a random button. Lo and behold, had had somehow turned onto the all anime porn channel.  
"Wow, anime porn," Ranma seemed genuinely surprise and intrigued, "I never knew something like this existed before. I mean the channel, not the anime porn,"  
Akane took a step toward him, a mallet in her hands as Ranma took a cautious step back, his hands held forward.  
"I didn't pick this channel on purpose. I swear,"

Ranma and Emiko and Lina walked the busy streets of the new city called Nerima. It was mid afternoon. Ranma had took it upon himself to show the girls the sights before heading on over to the airport. It seemed all the females Akane had called in the morning would be arriving at that airport within an hour of each other.  
Emiko and Lina seemed to be frightened of the cars whizzing by on the streets. Everytime a massive semi truck would go back, the two girls clutched onto Ranma.  
"Don't worry, they're only cars and trucks," he said, "They're a more modern version of the carriages you have back home except there's no need for horses,"  
"They're rather intimidating," Emiko found herself commenting. She didn't mind seeing new things, if they weren't so loud and powerful looking.  
Ranma smiled warmly, "Oh, how cute. You're scared of trucks and cars," He placed a hand around Emiko's shoulder, "Well, I guess as a man, I'll hafta protect you,"  
"They scare me also," Lina said, pointing to herself.  
Ranma chuckled. He placed his other arm around Lina, "All right, fine. There, ya happy?" He was in a generally happy mood from realizing the new city looked exactly like the Nerima he knew so he didn't really care all that much about what he was doing.  
Lina and Emiko seemed to lean again him, enjoying the warmth he was providing.  
"Hey, don't get too comfortable," Ranma realized the two girls seemed to have taken advantage of his instictive nature to protect, "I just realized something. Both of you are powerful enough to destroy those cars and trucks. You don't need my protection,"  
He let go.  
The girls looked at each other before smiling meekly back at Ranma.  
Ranma cleared his throat, "Look, we have three hours to kill before we're expected at the airport to meet up with the others,"  
"This world is so much different from ours," Emiko commented, looking high into the sky, and pointed, "Look, a dragon. Maybe this world isn't so different afterall,"  
He shook his head, "That's not a dragon. It's called an airplane. It's used to carry people over long distances in a short period of time. These cars and trucks you see are basically a ground version of an airplane in some way. They're used for transportaion,"  
"Our world seems a lot older than this one," Lina said, "I notice there seems to be an extra emphasis on technology. There's far more machines on this world that ours. Heck, I probably saw more machines these past ten minutes than I have ever seen on my world,"  
Ranma smiled, "Well, I guess considering there's no such thing as magic on this world, we hafta make do with machines,"  
"Speaking of magic, I wonder if I can cast magic here," she said. She extended a hand upward toward the sky and closed her eyes, "Fireba-"  
A hand shot out to grab one of Lina's shoulders, "No! Don't!"  
She stopped what she was doing to turn her gaze at him, "What gives? Why not?"  
"The only thing you're going to do is succeed in freaking everyone out," he said, "How would you feel if someone from a different world did something on your world that was believed to never exist?"  
"I dunno," Lina shrugged, "I'd probably wanna find out how they did it. That's why I followed you in the first place. You did some pretty wicked things I had never seen before and had wanted to find out how you did it. Perhaps I could have added it to my repitoire,"  
Ranma smirked as he leaned close to her, "Funny, I thought you were after me because I saw you naked after I dropped in on you while you were in that hot spring,"  
Lina's eyes narrowed, "I had forgotten about that," "Just how much did you see?" Emiko glared at Ranma.  
He shrugged, "Well, I guess you can say that I know what Lina's natural hair color is,"  
"Ranma!" Lina's eyes widened, blushing the same hue as her hair.  
"Yep, your hair was that color," Ranma smirked, "And I'm not talking about the one on the top of your head,"  
"Ranma!" she glared at him, her magic flowing through her body. She was going to send a fireball right into Ranma's face for embarrassing her so much.  
Ranma held a index finger up, waving it back and forth, "I wouldn't if I were you. I can have you unconsious before you can cast your fireball,"  
Lina hesitated. Perhaps it was best that she do his bidding for the time being. Knowing Ranma, he would push one of her sleep pressure points and she would be out like a light, only to probably awaken in the middle of a busy intersection butt naked and not knowing how she got there.  
He smirked, "That's a good lil girl,"  
"Why you!" Lina shouted, "Fireba-"  
A hand darted out and touched one of Lina's chest. Before she finished calling out her spell, she had gasped when she felt Ranma groping her. She had only managed to look down at the hand firmly on her chest before everything went black and she slump forward into Ranma's arms deep asleep.  
"Told ya I would've knocked ya out," Ranma smirked.  
There was a tap on Ranma's shoulder. He turned around.  
"What is it, Emiko?" he asked.  
He was met with a painful slap. Emiko glared up at him as he held onto the slumbering Lina, his cheek stinging from the pain.  
"Whatcha do that for?" he glared back at her.  
"For grabbing groping Lina like that!"  
"You've gotta be kidding me,"  
Lina snapped awake. It only took her a moment before she realized she was sitting in some kind of seat and there was a table in front of her. Ranma and Emiko were sitting in the two seats in front of her.  
She looked around and realized that she seemed to be inside a restaurant, in a corner booth.  
"What happened?" she asked. She felt strangely invigorated, as if she had had the best sleep of her life. Ranma grinned, "Didja already forget? I pushed your sleep pressure point. You've been out for close to half an hour,"  
"Pushed my pressure point?" Lina looked at him curiously. After a moment, her eyes widened, "Now I remember! You grabbed my chest you pervert!" Her eyes narrowed when she noticed a hand print on one of Ranma's cheek. She leaned back in her chair, "I guess Emiko seemed to have done me the favor and gotten back at you. I guess it'll suffice,"  
Ranma glared at Emiko before turning toward Lina, "Anyway, we're at a restaurant. I only put you to sleep temporarily. We're gonna grab a bite to eat before heading on out for the airport,"  
"Are you telling me what to do?" Lina challenged, "I don't like being told what to do,"  
Ranma sighed, "Are you finished?"  
Lina let out an annoyed breath. Perhaps shooting a fireball in the restaurant would be uncalled for. Even though the outcome was something she wanted, which was Ranma receiving bodily harm and Emiko getting caught in the blast, but the restaurant patrons as well as the owner could get hurt in the blast, too. She would remain passive and let it slide until they got back to Ranma's house.  
new stuff 5/31

Ranma smiled at Lina, "So, what would you like to eat? Order whatever ya like. It's my treat,"  
That seemed to make Lina feel a bit better. She would get back at him by eating more than she had ever before. He scratched his head, "Hey, I just realized something. The money that you brought with you to this world useless," He reached into his pocket and pulled out some odd looking coins and equally odd pieces of paper, "This is money on this world. From what I can recall, one of your gold coins on your world is probably equivalent to about a thousand yen here. This is more than enough to buy a meal for the three of us,"  
Lina pulled out her bag of coins and placed it on the table, "These are worthless here?"  
He shrugged, "Actually, no necessarily. Gold is also very valuable here but there's only one problem. Only our national treasury houses gold. Therefore, if someone of an authoritive stature, like a police officer, were to see you using gold coins to pay for your meals, they'll probably be suspicious as to where you got them. You'd probably most likely be taken into custody and question,"  
Lina looked curiously at him, "A police officer? Taken into custody?"  
Ranma smiled warmly, "Keep in mind that my world is much different from yours. You and Emiko here have a lot to learn about. A police officer are basically the guards of a town. They make sure no crimes are committed and report it if there are. Taken into custody is basically you getting arrested and taken to their headquarters where they'll question you,"  
She smirked, "And if I don't answer? They have no right to detain me for anything I haven't done wrong,"  
Ranma shook a finger towards her, "No. We will not be causing trouble on this world. It's true that they don't have a right, but neither should you in using your magic,"  
"What about yourself? I'm sure you used this ki thing you know," Lina narrowed her eyes.  
He was silent for a moment. He scratched his chin, "Actually, that's true. I used a massive amount of it when battling those Angels, and I don't think it was all that smart to have appeared back on this world in a grand entrance when I came back from another world, this world that had these gigantic machines called EVAs and was battling their own attacking Angels,"  
"And aren't we being a bit hypocritical?" Lina smirked.  
"What do ya mean?"  
"When you arrived on my world, you didn't use all that much effort to conceal your powers," she replied, "I remember seeing use shoot that ki-blast near me in hopes of scaring me off,"  
Ranma smiled meekly, "Oh yeah. That. I guess you have a point there,"  
"So, what do you have to say about that?" she continued to smirk, leaning forward in her chair.  
He leaned back, "Okay, fine. Use magic to your heart's content. However, don't come to me when the entire country is after you because they think you're an Angel,"  
"Don't you have problems?" Emiko asked, silent until now, "Don't they come after you for that ki stuff that you know?"  
He shook his head, "Actually, they don't. It's been known of who I am. I guess I kinda made a name for myself over ten years ago when I was throwing ki-blast left and right to destroy these machines called boomers, and then when I started fighting those damn Angels along with friends that also knew how to use ki as well as fire,"  
He snapped his fingers, turning toward Lina, "Hey, I just realized something. You and this guy named Saffron would probably get along fine,"  
"Saffron? Who's he?"  
"He was a friend I fought along side with when battling those Angels," he answered, "He's literally some kinda living god. Anything about the use of fire, he knows. He might be able to teach you a thing or too since you like using fireballs and flame arrows and such,"  
"Are you trying to hook me up with this guy in hopes I fall in love with him?" Lina narrowed her eyes, "Are you trying to get rid of me?"  
Ranma laughed, almost falling out of his seat, "No. It's not like that. It was merely a comment. Who you fall in love with is you prorogative,"  
Lina was silent. She only smiled slightly.  
"Anyway, Saffron knows everything there is to the use of fire," he continued on, "He's probably one of the most powerful people I have ever met. He's also immortal,"  
"Immortal, huh?" Lina had said, a bit impressed. Ranma nodded, "Yeah, he's kinda like how I used to be,"  
Eiko and Lina's eyes widened.  
"D-did I hear that c-correctly? Did you just say that you used to be immortal?" Lina did a double take. He shrugged, "Um, I don't think I was supposed to say that aloud. Well, anyway, yeah, I used to be. I was cursed with immortality,"  
"Whoa, time out," Lina said, "Y-you used to be immortal? You used to be cursed with immortality?"  
Ranma shook his head almost emphatically, "Nope. That's a need to know basis and you don't need to know anything about that. Let's just say that I used to be cursed, and immortality was only a part of that curse. And no, I am not gonna tell you what that curse is so don't even try,"  
A waitress approached the table.  
Ranma smiled warmly at the young girl, "Ah, perfect timing,"  
"Thank you," she blushed a bit. Oh my god, he's so handsome, she thought.  
Ranma ordered his meal. Emiko and Lina glared at Ranma for a moment, a bit annoyed that he would not tell them more to the extent of whatever that curse was. They eventually gave their orders to the waitress. When she left, the both of them continued to glare at Ranma.  
"Glare at me as much as you like, it doesn't bother me one bit," he smirked, "I ain't telling ya. Now, are there any questions you have about this world?"  
"Yeah, I have one, if one were to be cursed with immortality, on this world, what would that curse be?" Lina tried.  
Ranma looked at Lina like she had grown a second head, "You've gotta be kidding. Didn't I just say I ain't telling ya any more about my curse? You're only paraphrasing the question,"  
Lina shrugged, "It was worth a try,"  
"I have a question," Emiko spoke up, "I noticed there seems to only be humans on this world. Are there any cobolts, lizardmen, goblins, and such?"  
Ranma shook his head, "Nope. There are none. There's around ten billion people on this planet, all of them human,"  
"Damn, that's a lot of humans," Lina whistled, "That's a whole lot more than the amount on our world. However, I guess it's smaller because humans share the world with other sentient creatures. How come there aren't any cobolts and lizardmen and such?"  
"I dunno," Ranma said, "I ain't God. I wasn't the one that created this world. It's like my asking you why there were those kinda creatures on your world,"  
Lina and Emiko looked at one another. "Any other questions?"  
"None that I can think of," Emiko said first, "I'll probably think of some more as time passes on,"  
"Same here," Lina added.  
"All right,"

Ranma and the two girls stepped out of the restaurant.  
Ranma rubbed his stomach, "Ah, that was a good meal. Didja two like it?"  
Lina and Emiko nodded.  
"Yeah, that was a good meal," Lina commented, "I have to hand it to this world. The food here is excellent,"  
A truck loudly passed by on the street in front of them, causing Lina and Emiko to yelp in surprise. They took cover by Ranma's side, both of them actually grabbing a hold of him.  
Ranma laughed, "You okay?"  
They nodded, both embarrassed.  
"You two seem to be scared of these trucks," Ranma smiled warmly, "But don't worry about 'em. Like I said before, they're basically carriages but without the horses pulling them,"  
"They're loud," Lina commented. He looked at clock handing by the front of a store, "Hm, we've only got an hour left to get to the airport to meet up with the rest of the gang. I guess we better head on out now. It's only a short trek from here, but I'm trying to take into account the fact that we don't really know which planes each and every one of 'em are getting into the airport on,"  
The girls followed Ranma as he crossed the street.  
Just then, a truck ran the red light, the driver not paying attention. The truck made this horriffic screeching noise as the driver slammed on his brakes too late, the skidding tires causing a massive smoke screen.  
Ranma managed to turn around just in time to spot Lina and Emiko staring at the oncoming truck, seemingly frozen in fear. When he realized that the truck, was going to hit the two girls, he quickly darted forward to push them out of the way. However, he was shocked when the girls did reach in time.  
Emiko had skillfully jumped up high into the air and over the truck as it went skidding by underneath her. Lina had simply lept off toward the side, tumbling and back on her feet a safe distance away.  
Ranma seemed to have been amazed at watching the two girls react so quickly that he didn't even worry about his own well being. The truck hit Ranma full force. Even though it was skidding, it must had hit him as if the driver wasn't even attempting to stop, the decrease in speed from the braking at the time the truck hit Ranma on negligible.  
The entire front end of the truck caved inward as it hit Ranma with such for that it sent him hurtling through the air where he crashed into a telephone pole, only to get crushed when the truck hit into him, sandwiching him between the telephone and the truck.  
"Ranma!" the two girls shouted as they rushed toward the wreckage. Ranma was no where to be seen. A small stream of liquid could be seen flowing from the large tank located by the driver side of the truck. The puddle of gasoline started to grow. There was a live wire nearby, having come loose from the transformer above the badly damaged telephone pole.  
The truck seemed to slowly move backwards on its own.  
Ranma struggled to free himself from the metallic wreckage binding him against the telephone pole. Through brute strength, he slowly started to lift the front of the truck up, hoping it would be easier to push it back so that he could free himself.  
The driver of the truck, with only a small gash on his forehead, emerged from the truck and ran for safety.  
"The truck's going to blow!" the man said, diving to the pavement a good distance away. Ranma heard those words.  
"Oh shit. Why me?"  
A massive explosion ensued, everyone managing to duck for cover at the last second. Windows from within a block's radius shattered from the explosion as the ground shook violently. Although the explosion was powerful, no one had been close enough to have been harmed, save for Ranma.  
"Ranma!" the girls rushed forward toward the wreckage, forced to keep a good distance away due to the extreme heat from the burning inferno. The only thing visible under the column of flames was the outline of the truck within it.  
Sirens could be heard in the far off distance, getting louder and louder.  
All of a sudden, Ranma emerged from the wreckage, jumping up and down, his shirt on fire.  
"Hot! Hot! Hot!" he shouted, proceeding to take his shirt off. Aside from the singed clothes, there had been no indication that he had been in the middle of such an explosion.  
"Freeze beam!" Lina shouted, pointing toward Ranma.  
A beam shot from her finger tips and struck Ranma. In an instant, Ranma became encased in solid ice, frozen in mid step. Although Lina had done the first thing that had come into mind in hopes of extinguishing the flames, the outcome was less than desireable.  
Ranma was no frozen in a massive block of ice. A second later, the ice shattered as Ranma was rubbing his arms, now shirtless and shivering and soaking wet, "C-cold,"  
Lina's eyes was wide open. Ranma had just gotten encased in a block of ice and he had managed to break free only after a second. It was near impossible to break out unless the person had unimaginable strength.  
Ranma, realizing he wasn't on fire anymore but now freezing cold, had stopped and closed his eyes. A second later later, this red aura surrounded him, lasting for only a second. When it subsided, Ranma was no longer shivering.  
"Whatcha do that for?" Ranma glared at Lina.  
"Thank goodness you're okay!" Emiko said happily, rushing forward and hugging Ranma tightly, burying her face against his chest.  
He placed his arms around her and said in a soft voice, "Of course I'm all right. You need a whole lot more than that to hurt me,"  
He managed to free himself from her embraced, "I've gotta take care of this fire before it spreads,"  
He walked over to the burning truck and extended a hand toward it, the hand open and the palm facing the sky. He then quickly pulled his arm toward his body, creating this massive vacuum from the quickly movement of his hand. In an instant, the fire disappeared, the sudden disappearing of oxygen preventing it from continuing to raze the truck, leving behind only the smoldering remains of it. It was not a pretty sight.  
"W-what the heck was that?" Lina's gasped.  
Ranma smirked, "It's a technique I developed in Antarctica. It works much better in getting rid of a fire instead of what you had done,"  
Lina gave a meek smile, "Hey, for your information, I did the first thing that popped into mind. You should be grateful,"  
He sighed a bit, "Well, I guess you're right. Thanks for your helps. Now, before people start asking questions as to what had happened and what they saw us do, let's get outta here,"  
"Agreed," both girls said. All three of them ran off.

"I think you should get a shirt," Lina commented.  
Ranma and Lina and Emiko were around five blocks away from where that explosion had taken place. They were near the entrance of a public park.  
He nodded, "I know, but I can't. I have no more money. My money burned in the fire and I had to get rid of the coins before it became superheated and started burning me. I'd go home and get changed but then we won't make it to the airport in time,"  
"So what, you're going to go around walking topless?" she asked. She narrowed her eyes toward a group of three girls walking by and paying a bit more attention to Ranma than they were supposed to.  
Ranma shrugged, "It doesn't bother me. It's a nice day out," He smirked, "It seems to bother you more than it bothers me. Now why is that?"  
"It doesn't bother me!" Lina spat, blushing a bit, "W-why would it bother me? I'm not jealous!"  
"Jealous? Why do you say that?" Ranma looked confused, "I didn't mention anything about you being jealous,"  
"N-nothing," Lina stammered in an embarrassed tone. When she noticed another group of girls regarding the topless Ranma, she turned toward them, "What the hell are you looking at?"  
Ranma said, "Hey, what's gotten into ya? Why're you trying to start a fight with every passing female?"  
"I have my reasons," Lina replied softly.  
"Well, whatever it is, you should do something about it," he commented, "All right, the airport is only a short distance away. All we hafta do is get past this block and walk about a half miles,"  
Lina hadn't heard the last statement. She was thinking about Ranma's first comment. After a moment, she got an idea.  
"I know," she said, "You can wear my cape,"  
"Your cape? Nah, it's ugly," he shook his head.  
"Are you saying my cape is ugly?"  
"Yep," he replied without thought.  
Another group of young girls passed by.  
One of them even said, "Looking nice,"  
"Thanks," Ranma smiled warmly.  
Lina and Emiko glared at the group of girls, their gaze scaring them. The group of girls quickly went on with their business, but not before defy her and smiling warmly at Ranma and saying their goodbyes.  
A bit annoyed, Lina removed her cape anyway and held it out for him to take it, "Just wear it,"  
"Is that a command?" Ranma smirked. "C'mon, just put it on," Emiko said, "It's better than being shirtless," It was good for her also. She found it hard to not stare at him. Ranma had the most well build body she had ever seen. It was magnificant. She knew that if he caught her staring, he would tease the hell out of her.  
Ranma shrugged, the muscles of his well defined back tightening when he did so, as he said, "All right, fine. I'll do it,"  
He took the cape and proceeded to put it on.  
The two girls looked at one another. Ranma was actually doing what they had asked him to do.  
"How do I look?" Ranma asked.  
He looked absolutely ridiculous. Lina could get away with wearing something like a cape since she was a female, but Ranma wasn't. He looked like some superhero reject that had a bad sense of fashion. The man standing before then looked so ridiculous that neither Lina nor Emiko could prevent themselves from laughing.  
"Fine, I guess your reactions is good enough," he said, proceeding to take the cape back off, "I'll go topless instead. I rather be topless than looking ridiculous,"  
Lina and Emiko managed to stop their laughing.  
"You don't look ridiculous," Lina smiled warmly.  
"Not one bit," Emiko managed to agree.  
Ranma's eyes narrowed, "Well, I still feel I look idiotic,"  
"That's why it's perfect for you," Lina had to comment. It was too good a setup to pass up, "The fact that you're an idiot and wearing that cape being idiotic will cancel the idiocricy leaving you looking okay,"  
Emiko laughed. That was the stupidest thing she had ever heard. "Ha ha, real funny," Ranma said sarcastically, "For that, now I'm definitely not gonna wear it. I still don't see why ya want me to cover myself up so much. I'm a guy. It's okay if I'm not wearing a shirt,"  
"Not from our point of view," Emiko muttered, noticing yet another group of girls eyeing Ranma as they walked by.  
"Not from your point of view? Whatcha mean by that?" he asked curiously, scratching the back of his head. In doing so, the muscles of his well defined arm could be seen flexing as well as his washboard stomach and obliques.  
"Forget it. Just please put it on," Lina said, finally able to keep herself from laughing to say it seriously.  
Ranma eyed Lina and Emiko for a minute before he reluctantly decided it was probably better that he wear something over his top half rather than nothing. He didn't mind the stares he seemed to be getting from the female population, but enough was enough. There was more to him than some hot bod.  
He put on the cape. It had provided quite a bit of cover, despite it being meant for Lina and not someone with shoulders as broad as his. It did make him look idiotic but he was willing to live with it.  
"All right, let's get going," he said, heading into the park.  
Emiko and the now capeless Lina headed into the park.

Misato's eyes were wide when she entered the terminal and caught sight of Ranma. She was the first to arrive at that airport. The others would be coming in on another flight.  
Her heart started beating rapidly when she recognized him and realized that Ranma really was standing before her, "R-Ranma,"  
Ranma smiled warmly, "Hello, Misato. Long time no see,"  
Lina and Emiko stood by his side, wondering if that beautiful purple haired woman was going to realize that Ranma wasn't there by himself.  
It was obvious that she did not, nor even care if she did, because she dropped her suitcase and rushed forward and into Ranma's arm, tilting her head back as she brought her lips up against Ranma's and darted her tongue deeply into this throat in a passionate kiss.  
Ranma stood there in shock, not knowing how to react as his mouth was invaded by Misato's. He gave a small yelp when he felt her hands give his backside a little squeeze.  
"I'm so glad to see you!" Misato felt her tears flowing. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a napkin and wiped her eyes with it.  
Ranma smiled warmly, barely managing to compose himself after receiving such a kiss, and said, "I-it's nice s-seeing you again," He regarded her for a moment as she him. Misato was clad in a low cut black skirt that exposed her long slender legs and a tight fitting blouse of the same color that helped to show off her firm breasts. The low cut neckline exposed quite a bit of cleavage also.  
Misato finally noticed the cape, "What the hell's with the cape?" She shook her head, "Well, it doesn't matter, I'm just glad you're alive,"  
"I'm glad to be alive," he smiled.  
Emiko cleared her throat, doing so just loud enough that Ranma and Misato had noticed. They turned their attention toward the young ninja.  
"Who's she?" Misato asked, her arms still wrapped around Ranma.  
"My name is Emiko," Emiko said proudly, her hands on her hips, "And I'm Ranma's fiancee,"  
Misato laughed, "Sure you are," She turned toward Ranma, "So, where were we?"  
"I am too," Emiko pouted, getting angry. She looked up at Ranma, "Go ahead, Ranma. Tell her that we're engaged,"  
"I dunno who this girl is," Ranma smirked.  
"What?" Emiko shouted.  
"I never saw her in my life," he added.  
"Ranma," she said.  
Ranma laughed, unable to keep the act up. He placed an arm around Emiko's shoulders and turned toward Misato.  
He said, "Misato, this is Emiko Kusanagi," He gestured toward Lina, placing his other arm around her shoulders, "And this is Lina. Lina Inverse. It's a long story. Let's just say that I somehow ended up on their world and they tagged along with me back here,"  
"That is not true," Lina and Emiko said.  
"Oh?" Ranma smirked mischieviously.  
Lina and Emiko looked at one another. They both opened their mouth as to answer that question but coming up with nothing. They stayed silent.  
Misato smirked at the girls before turning toward Ranma, "I assume you've got on helluva story to tell,"  
He nodded, "Yeah, it's a pretty long story. However, I'll explain it when everyone shows up. That way, I won't hafta keeps repeating it and can answer whatever questions there are. And lucky me, it turns out that all you guys will be arriving at the same airport at roughly the same time,"  
"That's good to hear, I guess,"  
"How come you and Ritsuko and Lisa didn't come in together?" he asked, "Afterall, you all live together. Heck, and what about Nene? She's working at a police precinct near where you live right?"  
Misato nodded, "Actually, we were supposed to come in together, but Ritsuko and Lisa had some last minute things they had to do. It seemed Ritsuko had taken a real liking to boomer techonolgy and Lisa took her under her wing. They were only minutes from finishing a five month project they had been working on together. The opted to finish it and take the next flight in, which leaves only half an hour after my flight. The way I think of it, it seems you're not important enough in their eyes for them to drop everything to come immediately, while I, on the other hand..."  
Ranma laughed, "Ah, how I missed that diabolica mind of yours. Leave it to you to try and sabotage my feelings of them. Well, it ain't gonna work. I know what you're up to. You wanna get rid of your competition,"  
Misato smiled meekly, "Hey, it didn't hurt to try,"  
He narrowed her eyes, "I guess I can't assume that you had found yourself a boyfriend and have given up your infactuation with me? Or perhaps gotten hitched and now happily married?"  
She smiled warmly, "Not on your life. And for your information, it's not some infactuation or some crush. That's juvenile. I'm a full grown adult and know where I want to be in the future and who's going to be there right next to me,"  
Ranma sighed, "Great, just great. I may have died and come back to life, but it seems like I'm starting right where I left off..."  
Misato seemed to purr, "How about we fast forward and skip the foreplay?"  
He took a step back, "Man, what the heck's with ya? You're awefully uninhibited. What gives?"  
She smiled warmly, "Well, considering you came back, it means I have a second chance and getting ya in the sack,"  
"Hey, I ain't some piece of meat," Ranma narrowed his eyes, "However, I do find it rather flattering but that's beside the point,"  
"You ain't seen nothing yet,"  
Ranma laughed nervously, "Um, actually, I don't think that'll be necessary,"  
"Whatever for?" she cooed, keeping close to him.  
"Um, I'm spoken for," he said.  
"What? Who? Who is she?" Misato asked, her voice now cold.  
Ranma, sensing impending doom, quickly placed a hand around Lina's shoulder.  
"I'd like you to meet my fiancee, Lina Inverse,"  
"What?" all the females said at once, Lina's voice much louder than anyone else's.  
Lina blushed a terrible shade of red.  
"He's lying! I'm his fiance!" Emiko pointed to himself. When he notice Misato glaring at Lina as Lina seemed to stare blankly at the floor, she started waving her hands up in the air, "Hello! I'm his fiance! She's just a bimbo that pulls bunnies out of hats!"  
"What? What did you say?" Lina started glowing red, fuming, "How dare you!"  
Ranma shook a finger at Lina, "Don't even think about it,"  
"I don't hafta listen to you," Lina sneered at him. She then turned toward Emiko, fire dancing from her fingertips, "You, you're going to pay for saying something like that,"  
Emiko flashed a toothy grin, a dagger in hand, "Just try it,"  
"Don't even think about it," he snapped, his voice loud.  
Both girls turned their attention toward him.  
"I'm not going to tell you this again!" he snapped, "No more fighting! If you wanna fight, go fight where no one'll get hurt in the process! Otherwise, don't even think about it!"  
"And if we decide not to follow that rule?" Lina dared to ask in defiance.  
"I have the nanban mirror. I'll use it to send you back home," he said.  
Both girls became deathly silent.  
Ranma had them beat.

The first thing Linna did as she walked up to Ranma was kiss him. She didn't even bother to say hello. She didn't want to waste her time greeting him when she could use it letting him know once and for all of her feelings toward him.  
"Um, h-hello, Linna," Ranma greeted her a bit awkwardly. From the corner of his eye he could see Emiko, Lina, and Misato glaring at them, mostly him. They didn't look all that happy to see Linna kissing him like that.  
"Oh yeah, hello, Ranma," Linna said, "I'm so glad to see you again. I'm so glad you're alive,"  
All of a sudden, she found her tears flowing as she suddenly realized that this was for real, that Ranma was alive and that was holding her in his embrace. She never wanted him to ever leave again.  
Ranma regarded her intently, "I'm glad to be alive,"  
Linna was clad in what would be considered a light blue power dress. It consisted of a blouse and a skirt. It gave Linna a conservative look. The skirt came down to her midthigh level and helps show off her beautiful shapely legs. It was obvious that Linna still did aerobics on a daily basis.  
"You look nice," he commented in a warm voice.  
Linna smiled, her heart afluttered. It was so nice hearing Ranma's voice again. It was so sexy. She had missed him so dearly that this moment in her life, this moment where she was in his arms, was probably the happiest moment ever.  
She continued to gaze up into his warm eyes. It was amazing. She was actually gazing into Ranma's eyes.  
"I'm so glad you're back," she said again, snuggling close to him.  
"Well, I'm glad to be back," he replied.  
When he managed to free himself, he and Linna walked over to where Misato, Lina, and Emiko were sitting in some chairs nearby. Ranma introduce Linna to Lina and Emiko, the two of them returning scrutinizing gazes. It didn't seem to bother Linna much.  
Ranma chuckled.  
"What's so funny?" Linna asked.  
"I just realized something," he smirked, placing a hand on Lina's shoulder, "You and her both have the exact sounding names. The only difference is that your name's spelled with an extra 'n',"  
"Yeah, so, what about it?" Linna asked.  
Ranma said, "I could be really cryptic by saying 'I'm in love with Leena' and neither one of you could tell which one I'm referring to,"  
Lina and Linna blushed.  
"However, I said 'Leena'," he sat down on one of the free seats, "It's spelled with two 'ee's instead of an 'i',"  
Linna sighed. She had wished Ranma had at least changed somewhat since she had last seen him. It was obvious that he did not. However, she would sulk about that later on. She sat down on the free chair next to him.  
"What's with the cape?" Linna asked. She had just noticed it now that she was sitting next to him. She had noticed his washborad stomach when she had stepped off the plan but not the cape.  
"Oh, now you notice?" he smirked, "Let's just say that something happened earlier. My shirt got burned. That's all,"  
"You look really sexy in it," she smiled. Damn, he looked sexy in anything. He'd probably look even sexier in nothing.  
"You stay away from my Ranma!" Emiko glared at Linna.  
Linna regarded the young girl, "What do you mean by your Ranma?"  
"We are to be wed," Emiko said proudly.  
Ranma smiled, "Don't worry about her. She's harmless,"  
"I am not!" Emiko shouted. She felt this burning rage within her to slap Ranma several times.  
He smirked at her, shooing her away as if she were a fly, "Shoo. Go out and buy some clothes or something. Leave us grown-ups alone,"  
Lina burst out laughing, Emiko glaring at her for a moment before turning her gaze back on Ranma. She had an air of confidence in her voice as she proclaimed, "For your information, I am of the age where I am considered adult,"  
"Yeah, so? That don't mean nothin'," he grinned, leaning close toward her, the unnervingly close proximity causing her to take a cautious step back.  
"That's true," Linna smirked, nudging Ranma in the side and said, "You're around eighty and you're no where near what would be consider an adult,"  
Ranma turned to face her and gave her a wry look, "Ha ha, real funny,"  
"You know I'm only joking with you," Linna said, leaning close to him, wrapping her arms around one of Ranma's arms, her head snuggling against his shoulder.  
"Hey, let go of him!" Emiko snapped.  
Ranma sighed.  
Misato took it upon herself to speak, quiet until now. She cleared her throat, "So, Linna, how long do you plan on staying. Not long I assume?"  
"And let you have him? Yeah right," Linna replied with a laugh.  
Ranma waved his hand, "Hello? I'm right here! I'm not some piece of meat, y'know," Linna and Misato continued to regard each other. Although good friends, they seemed to look at each other as current rivals for Ranma's affections.  
"I must say, it's been a while since we last met, but you still look really good," Misato commented, almost reluctantly.  
Linna smiled a bit, "Thanks. The same thing goes for you,"  
Ranma continued to wave his hand, "Hello? Are ya listening to me?" After a moment, he shrugged and said, "Well, at least you're not at each other's throat like Emiko and Lina here,"  
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Emiko and Lina said in unison.  
He snickered, "You want me to write it out on a piece of paper or something? You two constantly fight. I'm glad Misato and Linna here aren't bickering and fighting like you two," He turned toward Linna and Misato, "Isn't that right?"  
He took a step back when he noticed them seemingly glowing from this unseen animosity they had toward one another as rivals for him. It looked like they were a whole level above bickering and fighting like Emiko and Lina.  
"This can't be happening," Ranma muttered, shaking his head and looking down at the ground.  
Ranma was curious as he saw a mob of reporters surrounding an airplane rampway. There were also several dozen young people mixed in with them, screaming at the top of their lungs, hoping to catch their idol's attention.  
"Gee, I wonder what's going on over there," he commented to himself, hoping to catch a glance of the action. He had wanted to change the subject. Ever since Misato and Linna had arrived, they had barraged him with question after question. He found himself constantly telling them that he would explain when everyone was together.  
When he got up to head on over to where the crowd was, Misato asked, "Where are you going?"  
"Hm, I made a comment about how I was wondering what was going on over there," he replied with a smirk, "Now if I'm curious as to what's going on there, wouldn't I hafta go over there to find out?"  
Misato let out and annoyed breath, "Forget I asked. Damn, you could be such a jerk sometimes,"  
"Good," Ranma smiled, "That way, you'd lemme alone and go after someone else,"  
"Yeah," Linna agreed, "You do that, Misato,"  
"Ha!" Misato laughed like a maniac.  
"What does that mean?" he looked oddly at her.  
She blushed a bit, "Um, nothing,"  
He shook his head and sighed, "Whatever. Anyway, I'm gonna go check out what's going on over there. I'll be right back,"  
"What are we supposed to do?" Linna asked.  
"I dunno," he seemed disinterested, "Go fly a kite. Who cares? Why do I hafta tell ya what to do? Jeez,"  
"Fly a kite? But we're in a airport terminal," Misato replied, confused.  
Ranma sighed, "It was a random suggestion that popped into my mind. No need to take it so literal. Oh, why don't the two of you and Emiko and Lina chat with one another. That way, you'll get to know each other better,"  
Linna and Misato regarded the young girls for a moment before looking back at Ranma. It didn't take them long before they realized that they knew very little about the both of them since they had been busy talking to Ranma most of the time. All the knew was that Emiko and Lina had come with Ranma back to his world.  
"All right," Misato shrugged.  
"Good," Ranma smiled before turning away and heading off toward the crowd nearby.  
"So, how did the two of you and Ranma meet?" she asked to both of them at once.  
"I was trying to kill him," they both answered in unison.  
Misato and Linna looked at one another.  
"Jeez, I don't think he has he ever met anyone that didn't try to kill him or do bodily harm to him initially," Linna commented. "What do you mean?" Emiko asked, "How did the two of you meet him?"  
Ranma sneezed as he slowly made his way through the crowd toward the front. "Damn girls," he muttered, "They must be talking abou me,"  
When he finally managed to see what all those reporters had their attention on, he realized that he should had been surprised. It was Priss. She was clad in black lether pants and a red leather jacket that concealled whatever shirt she was wearing underneath. There were five large body guards surrounding her, all of them having more than their share of work in keeping the reporters at bay.  
"Is there a reason for the sudden cancellation of your tour?" a reported asked her, holding a microphone near her. There was literally over a dozen microphone and tape recorders waiting to hear her speak.  
"Priss," Ranma called out to her.  
He stepped forward from the small gap between bodyguards and right up to Priss.  
"R-Ranma?" her eyes were wide from behind her shades. She took them off to get a better look at him. As she gazed deeply into his, she could feel the tears starting to sting her eyes, "I-it really is you,"  
She jumped up and into Ranma's arms, the entire surrounding world disappearing. She didn't care that thousands of camera flashbulbs blazed into life. "Oh, how I've missed you," Priss said softly into his ears, daring not to let him go for fear of losing him again, "I'm so glad to see you again,"  
"I'm glad to see you also," Ranma said. His eyes were hurting a bit from all the flash photography but since Priss didn't seem to mind, he could probably deal with it, "I see you've got quite a fan club. I knew you were going to make it,"  
Priss smiled, "Thanks,"  
All of a sudden, one of the bodyguards realized one of the lunatic fans had managed to get past him and had latched himself onto Priss as if some parasite. The bodyguard quickly grabbed one of Ranma's wrists, attempting to twist it around to cause Ranma to release his hold of her.  
Ranma didn't even budge. He continued to hold onto Priss. When the bodyguard tried to wrestle Ranma away from Priss, he turned toward the burly man, his eyes narrowing.  
"Hmph, why is he hugging her for so long?" Lina muttered to Emiko. Lina and Misato had stayed where they were, opting to be lazy instead of curious.  
Emiko and Linna had managed to actually make it through the mob of fans and reporters to see what was going on. They were shocked to see Ranma hugging someone, but they figured it was best to do nothing. The two females before her seemed to have received the same welcome. When they noticed this burly man trying to free Ranma from Priss, they wondered if they should join in and try and help that burly man out. They decided to watch instead. Priss continued to gaze up at Ranma. She wasn't even aware that five guys were trying to pry Ranma's hands off of her. Actually, Ranma wasn't even aware. It wasn't worth his time. They would not be able to overpower him or hurt him. "Do you mind?" Ranma said sternly toward all the bodyguards.  
"Why you!" a bodyguard said, hands clenching into fists.  
"He's with me," Priss told the men.  
The bodyguards' eyes widened, "P-Priss-sama. We're sorry. We didn't realize,"  
As if they were a single entity, all five bodyguard quickly left them alone to fend off the growing crowd and hopefully shield Priss from all those cameras.  
Priss kissed Ranma passionately. The entire crowd seemed to gasp as they realized what had just transpired. Immediately, thousands and thousands of flashbulbs blazed to life once again.  
"Excuse me sir," a reporter asked above the roar of the crowd, "Are you Priss' secret lover?"  
Oh shit, Priss realized. They weren't alone. For the brief moment of bliss, Priss had been totally unaware that she was the most famous singer in all of Japan and that she was surrounded with reproters. "What's the matter?" he asked, concern in his voice.  
"I-I just did something I shouldn't have," she replied, "The press is going to have a field day. When the pictures of me kissing you hits the public,"  
She gazed up and into Ranma's eyes. Oh how she had missed him. "It's worth it," she said warmly before she brought her lips up to his before he had a chance to react.  
Linna took it upon herself to approach the two of them.  
"Ahem!" she cleared her throat loudly.  
"Get away from her!" a bodyguard approached Linna, grabbing one of her wrists and holding it tightly. "Lettgo of me!" Linna shouted at the man, "Priss and I know each other!"  
The bodyguard turned toward Priss, who seemed to still be holding onto Ranma.  
Priss smirked, "I don't know her. I've never seen her in my life,"  
"What?" Linna shouted, her teeth baring, struggling against the bodyguard, "Hey, lettgo of me! Priss!"  
Priss continued to smirk. Although it had been a while since they last met, it was actually kind of amusing seeing her friend sweat. "If you don't tell them to let go, I'll tell Ranma about that you stole some of his underwear!" Linna shouted.  
"What?" Ranma and Priss said.  
"You did what?" Ranma narrowed his eyes at Priss.  
Priss blushed a deep shade of red, "I didn't do it! I swear!" She turned toward Linna, extreme malice in her eyes. She sighed before reluctantly saying to the bodyguard, "Let her go. She's with me,"  
Linna rubbed her wrists a couple of times as she approached the two of them. She grinned at Priss. Priss was flustered as Ranma continued to pierce through her with his scrutinizing gaze.  
"Well? Are you going to explain yourself?" Ranma's voice had an edge to it that was making Priss even more nervous and flustered than before.  
"What the hell are you waiting for! Tell him it's not true!" Priss quickly turned toward Linna, her voice loud and demanding.  
Linna waited almost a full minute before she burst out laughing and said, "Fine. Ranma, I was only joking. I was just getting back at her for her pretending she didn't know me,"  
Priss and Linna glared at one another.  
"Priss, can you please explain for yourself?" a reporter shouted out from the crowd, "Who are these people and what is your relationship with them?"  
"Priss, if you say I'm your lover..." Ranma cautioned her, leaving his sentence unfinished so that she could figure it out for herself.  
She gave a meek laughed, "O-of course not. W-what do you take me for?" "Corbin!" Priss shouted out for her spokesperson.  
From out of the crowd emerged a middle aged man with short brown hair, wearing glasses and a light brown suit.  
"Yes, Priss-sama?" the man asked.  
"Tell everyone that I'll hold a press conference two hours from now," she tol him, "Set it up so that it's only a first come first serve seating for two hundred people. The conference'll be held in the lobby room of our scheduled hotel,"  
"Yes, Priss-sama," the man nodded.  
The man turned toward the still growing crowd and said in a very loud voice, "Everyone, please refrain from asking any more questions. There'll be a press conference two hours from now. You can ask her then. In the meanwhile, please be patient,"  
He walked off, the press following him, eager to know of the press conference's location. All that remained were the fans that adored her, all of them easily kept at bay by the bodyguards.  
Ranma regarded Priss for a moment.  
"What?" Priss felt herself blushing.  
"A press conference?"  
She nodded, "Yes. Because I'm famous and all, I basically have to explain my every actions. It goes with the territory,"  
"That must suck," he commented.  
Priss was silent for a moment as she thought about it. After a short while, she smiled sadly, "In a way, you're right. However, this is what I had dreamed of, and I eventually made it. It has it's ups and downs, but there are far more ups than there are downs in this business. The only down part about this is the lack of privacy,"  
"That's unfortunate," he said.  
"However, it doesn't really bother me," she smiled, "I like being where I am,"  
"Well, that's good to hear," he smiled, "I'm glad to hear that. However, what do you mean hotel? You're staying at a hotel?"  
"Where else?"  
"I thought it be nice if we all stay at my place," he suggested, "It'd be like one huge get-together. That is, if you'd like,"  
Priss felt like crying. She was so happy. She smiled warmly and said, "Of course,"  
He smiled back, "That's good to hear," "Man, I can't believe it," Priss continued to smile, "I can't believe that you're alive. Right now, I'm feelinging that same sense of happiness and elation of seeing you alive as if it were over ten years ago, after you and Akane and Ryoga come back and pay us a visit after having supposedly died after you and Ryoga used your seppukku blasts,"  
Ranma replied, "Well, there's quite a bit of explaining to that on my part. However, I'll explain everything later, when everyone's hear. That way, I won't hafta constantly retell the story,"  
"I'm looking forward to hearing it," she said, leaning forward and hugging him once again, "Anyway, I'm very glad to see you again,"  
"Same here," he grinned, "I'm glad to see me also,"  
Priss laughed, continuing to hug him, "Act whichever way you want. Nothing's going to spoil my day,"  
He turned toward Linna, who watch this play out with relucatant patience. Priss was hugging Ranma far longer than Linna had hugged him. And what was worse was that he didn't seem to mind it.  
"What? You jealous or something?" he smirked.  
Linna blushed, "O-of course not!"  
"Hello, Linna, it's nice seeing you again...I guess," Priss said a bit cautiously. She was only playing around. She was really happy to see her old friend again. She couldn't wait to see the others.  
"I guess? What's that supposed to mean?" Linna smirked in mock hurt feelings.  
They both laughed.  
"All right, you're not fighting like most people," Ranma nearly cheered.  
"Most people?"  
Linna sighed a bit, "Misato is here. Also, there seems to be two new additions to the group,"  
"Oh?" one of Priss' eyebrows raised in interest.  
All of a sudden, a bodyguard few right by their heads, hitting up against another bodyguard, the two of them falling to the ground unconsious. Everyone turned their attention toward where the bodyguard had been originally thrown.  
Emiko stood defiantly, daring the three remaining bodyguards to attempt to restrain her before she could make it to her Ranma. She glared at the burly men and said, "You'll end up just like your two friends if you lay another finger on me,"  
"What's going on?" Ranma asked, approaching Emiko.  
"He grabbed me," Emiko said in a scared voice. The way she said it made it seem like that man had groped her.  
Ranma was having none of it, "Yeah, where?"  
"Um, on the wrist," she managed to say, "And if you must know, he grabbed my wrist real tightly,"  
He sighed, "Whatever,"  
"What happened if he grabbed my breasts?" Emiko seemed angry at him, "You're supposed to protect me,"  
Ranma stood there and blinked a few times, "W-what? Did I hear that correctly?"  
"What if that man had been trying to grab my breasts?" she said.  
Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose, "This is too much. I can't believe what I'm hearing,"  
"What's the matter?" Priss asked as she and Linna aproached him.  
"I've got a headache," Ranma muttered.  
"You know what helps get rid of headaches?" Linna said, "It's been scientifically proven actually,"  
"What?" he looked at her, "What'll help get rid of my headache,"  
"Sex," she said, "And I'd be more than happy to help,"  
Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head and sighing.  
"Now I've got a migraine,"

New stuff...more or less

"Uncle Ranma!" Jun squeaked happily as she ran forward into the terminal and jumped into Ranma's awaiting arms, "I've missed you so much!" Everyone watched in amusement as Ranma knelt down and embraced the young girl lovingly. Lina and Emiko looked at one another. Priss and Linna and Misato watched in keen fascination. They all realized that they were at that age where they should be considering having a baby. Watching how well Ranma seemed to be with children made him all the more appealing as their baby's father.  
Ranma knelt down and embraced the little girl lovingly, "Jun, you've grown up up quite a bit since I last saw you. You're even more beautiful now,"  
"That's because I'm nine now," she replied.  
Ranma chuckled, "Of course you are. It has been a year since we last saw each other," He peered over Jun's shoulder and smiled at the two individuals staring at him, Jun's father and mother.  
"Madigan, Carper, it's been a while," he said. They looked the same as before. However, they look like they hadn't really slept in a while. Madigan had a little baby sleeping soundly in her arms, snuggled against her bosom. He walked over and peered down at the sleeping baby, "My my my, what do we have here?"  
"It's a baby, Ranma," Madigan said teasingly. She couldn't really believe she was actually speaking to Ranma, that he was still alive and was now standing before her. He chuckled, "I know that,"  
"Say hello to the newest addition to the family. Her name is Yuika," Carper said proudly as he held the folder up carriage over his shoulder, "She's two months old,"  
Ranma gave Carper a nudge, "She's beautiful. That must mean she's adopted,"  
"Ha ha, real funny," Madigan narrowed her eyes toward him.  
"I'm just joking," he laughed, "Congratulations,"  
"Thank you," they said in unison.  
He leaned closer to the baby to take a closer look.  
"Be careful not to wake her," Madigan warned, "She hasn't slept like this in the longest time. And when she's awake, you're going to have no peace and quiet until she falls back asleep,"  
"Heh, the passengers on the plane had contemplated throwing all of us out of the plane because she wouldn't stop crying," Carper chuckled.  
Ranma held his hands out, "Can I hold her?"  
Madigan quickly shook her head, "No way!"  
"Why not?" he asked, feelings hurt.  
She blushed in embarrassment, "No, it's not that I don't trust you. Far from it. It's just that I'm worried that handing her to you will wake her up and once she wakes up, it'll be at least a few hours of nonstop crying before she falls back asleep,"  
"Oh," he said. He shrugged, "Well, I'm glad you're here. It's nice to see everyone again,"  
"Same here," Carper commented, "It's been a while. Frankly, I'm still a bit shocked at the fact that you're actually alive and well. I'm really looking forward to the story you're going to be telling us on exactly how you managed to end up here,"  
"Don't worry, once everyone's here, I'll explain everything," he replied.  
"What's with the cape?" Carper asked. He had been meaning to ask but hadn't found the time until now.  
Ranma sighed. He said, "Hold up, I'll be right back,"  
He watched as Ranma quickly ran off and into a convenience store that was mostly used to buy sovenirs before people left from the airport to head back to where they were from. He emerged a minute later, clad in a shirt, the cape folded in his hands.  
"Is that better?" he asked, gesturing to his shirt.  
"It's better I guess," Carper said.  
He looked past Ranma noticed everyone else standing by. He greeted everyone as they greeted him and Madigan in return. He then noticed two young looking girls he had never seen before.  
"I'm Lina Inverse and this here is Emiko Kusanagi," Lina said, jerking a thumb toward the young ninja.  
"It's nice to meet you," Carper smiled.  
"They followed me back home," Ranma said, "I tried to ditch 'em, but the're constantly following me around. They're like stray pets,"  
"We are not!" they both snapped at him.  
"Might you be able to give another reason as to why you're here?" he grinned.  
Lina opened her mouth to say something but stopped. Emiko said, "We are to wed. What else?"  
"What?" Priss shouted. "Not this again," he muttered, shaking his head.  
"What's this I hear about you and her marrying?" Priss wanted an explanation, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "It isn't true, right?"  
He was silent for a short moment before shrugging and saing, "Well, more or less,"  
"More or less?" Priss asked.  
"But what about Lina?" Misato asked, "I thought you were going to marry her. Didn't you say she was your fiancee?"  
"I-I-I am?" Linna blushed a deep shade of red.  
"Not you, fool," Misato snapped, "I'm talking the other one. Lina. The one with one 'n' in her name," She sighed, "Man, having to people where with exact sounding names is going to be really bothersome,"  
Lina blushed. She and Ranma were fiancees?  
"I am?" Ranma asked.  
"Yeah," Misato said, "Didn't you just say that shortly before you threatened to use the nanban mirror to take her and Emiko back to their homeworld?"  
Ranma thought about it for a moment before he said, "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. You're right," "So what is it? Are you and Lina engaged or is it you and Emiko?" Misato asked, her hands on her hips.  
Ranma smirked, "It's a secret,"  
Lina fell over and started twitching. He looked down at her, confused, "What? What did I say?"

"It's a secret!" Ranma said gleefully. He and everyone was near each other as they sat and awaited by the terminal for the next plane to arrive, the plane Ritsuko and Lisa were on. They had been happily conversing among themselves when Ranma said that from out of nowhere. Madigan and Carper taking Jun and Yuika with them to get some much needed food. Although Ranma had intended for everyone to go out and eat together, they had decided not to wait, opting to only eat a little bit so that they still had a bit of an appetite when everyone went out to eat again. They said they would meet everyone back at Ranma's place.  
Lina fell over again. She got back up, glaring at Ranma, a vein evident on her forehad, "Will you quit saying that?"  
Ranma chuckled. It was downright scary how fast Ranma managed to pick up on Lina's most hated phrase, which seemed to make her shudded and fall over everytime she heard it.  
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help it," Ranma smiled, helping Lina back onto her feet, "Actually, I find that rather cute,"  
"Y-you do?" Lina looked up at him, blushing a bit. When she felt the heat flooding to her cheeks, she quickly steeled herself and cleared her throat, "Whatever the case, I think it's immature how you find humor at the expense of others,"  
"Ooh, aren't we the hypocrite today?" he grinned, "If I recall correctly, a certain red-haired girl I know seemed to find it very humorous seeing me up in flames every time she hit me with a fireball,"  
"Well, you deserved every bit of it," she retorted without wavering, "As a matter of fact, you should consider yourself lucky that I actually went easy on you,"  
Ranma leaned close to Lina, his face inches from her, "And why might that be. Could it be because you're developing some kind of crush on me?"  
"What?" every female seemed to say in unison.  
Ranma held his hands up, "Hey, I was only joking around. Jeez, will all of you lighten up?"  
None of the females seemed to be paying him much attention because they were staring daggers at the slightly blushing Lina, who seemed very self-conscious of herself at the moment.  
"I-I do n-not have a c-crush on you!" Lina stammered, her heart beating rapidly, "I-I would s-sooner hafta kill myself than fall in love with you!"  
"Huh? Love? What's that gotta do with it?" Ranma asked curiously, eyes narrowing, "I was only saying something about a crush, not being in love,"  
Lina blushed more deeply, "Y-you know w-what I mean!"  
He continued to gaze deeply at her for a few moments before he leaned back in his chair, resting his arms on the back of the chairs next to him, "I guess so,"  
Misato, whom had been sitting next to him and realizing that Ranma had basically put one of his arms around her shoulder, leaned over and rested her head next to him.  
"Hey," Ranma commented, "I was resting my arm on the back of your chair, not your shoulder. Dontcha go getting the wrong idea,"  
"A girl can dream can't she?" she cooed, not at all bothered by the glares she was receiving by the other females, especially Linna. Linna had been siting on Ranma's other side and seemed awefully jealous of Misato for having thought of doing that first.  
Ranma brought his arms up and rested his hands on his legs, "Fine, have it your way,"  
"What do you have against us?" Misato asked, a bit angry now, "Why are you always avoiding any physical contact or intimacy?"  
Ranma smirked, "All right, fine. Let's have sex,"  
"What?" every female said.  
Ranma gave a meek laugh before becoming serious and saying, "I guess that answers the question. I have enough complications in my life as it is. Sex'll only further complicate things,"  
"Hey, you're not supposed to be talking about sex," Linna cautioned, "There's children here,"  
"We're not children!" Lina and Emiko said in unison.  
Emiko also added, "Like I mentioned before, I am of the age where I am,"  
"'considered an adult'," Priss finished for her, "Yeah, whatever. Blah blah. You're both still children regardless,"  
"Hmph, well it beats being an old woman like you are," Lina taunted. How dare Priss step out of bounds and consider her some kind of child. Emiko was definitely another story, but Lina didn't consider herself a child one bit.  
One of Priss' eyebrows twitched, "O-old woman? H-h-how d-dare you!"  
"Gee, I'm real jealous of you. I can't wait to have to worry about the effects of gravity when I'm at your age," Lina also added in her most sarcastic voice.  
Priss looked down at her breasts. For a brief moment, she became self-  
conscious of herself. She knew she had beautiful breasts but that comment had momentarily made her doubt herself.  
Ranma laughed as if he had lost his mind, "Oh boy, I'm sure this situation is gonna turn out all fine,"  
Priss stood up, very angry and Lina, "Would you care to repeat that again? I guess at my age, my hearing must be going so I have trouble hearing what you're saying most of the time,"  
"I least I don't hafta worry about the effects of gravity," Lina repeated wryly, not at all intimidated by this woman. She knew that Priss had no idea what kind of devestation Lina was capable of. Boy, was she in for a surprise.  
"Well, I'd rather worry about the effects of gravity rather than not having the things that gravity would effect," Priss smirked. She knew it was a low blow but she had to fight fire with fire.  
Lina winced. The words had struck home and seemed to had hurt her feelings terribly. She couldn't help it if she had small breasts. They seemed to be taking their time in developing. She knew she would have beatiful and full breasts when the time came, but why did it have to come so slow?  
Ranma, noticing Lina wincing as the words seemed to effect Lina at a subconscious level, turned his attention toward Priss, his eyes narrow.  
"Priss," he said in a stern voice.  
"What?" she almost snapped at him. She had been caught up in the heat of that verbal debate to realize what she had done. When she noticed Ranma's angered look, she instantly regretted what she had said.  
"That was mean," he said, "I want you to apologize,"  
Lina, whom had been about to say something in her defense, stopped what she was doing to simply look up at Ranma.  
Ranma cotninued to gaze at Priss, "I want you to apologize to her,"  
"But-" Priss began.  
"I'm waiting," Ranma said impatiently as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.  
When Priss looked at Ranma and noticed that he actually seemed a bit angry at her, she realized that she might have gone a bit too far with that comment. She turned toward Lina. When she realized that Lina seemed to have taken that comment far more personal that it was supposed to, Priss felt almost like a fool for a having said that. She had only meant to annoy and tease the girl, not hurt her feelings.  
"I'm sorry," Priss said in a serious voice, not at all embarrassed of having to say this while everyone was watching.  
"Um," Lina managed to say. She was still surprised when she had noticed Ranma coming to her defense.  
Priss shrugged, "I hadn't meant to say that as some kinda personal attack or nothing. I guess our little argument went a bit too far and I hadn't bothered to take your feelings into consideration,"  
Lina was silent as she contemplated this. This came as quite a surprise. Priss seemed to have changed completely. At first, it seemed like Priss had quite a bit of animosity toward Lina, but it seemed different now.  
"All was said in good fun and guesture," Priss continued, "I didn't mean to offend you like that,"  
"Um, I-I guess that's okay," Lina stammered. She looked at Ranma. For some reason, her heart was beating a bit faster. She couldn't believe Ranma had come to her defense like that and taken her side. What was even more amazing was him being able to notice that she had had her feelings hurt. Heck, she figured Ranma would had joined in or something of that sort.  
Ranma continued to narrow his eyes at Priss, which made her become nervous, must to Lina's delight. Lina started thinking that perhaps Priss wasn't that bad. Lina wondered if she would had apologized also had Priss been offended by what she had said in the first hand. "R-Ranma? Is that really you?" came a voice.  
Everyone turned toward the voice. Their gaze rested on a woman clad in what would be considered a light blue power dress with short blond hair. She was wearing a pair of shade that gave her this decidedly chic look. It only took a second before everyone realized that it was Ritsuko. Standing next to her was Lisa, clad in a white blouse and black skirt. Her hair was now a bit longer than before. Ranma smiled, getting up off his seat, "Ritsuko. Lisa. You've finally made it,"  
Ritsuko took several steps forward, taking off her shades to get a better look at Ranma, unable to believe that it was really him when he came to a stop just a foot away in front of her. "Y-you're a-alive," she said, her emotions flooding before her. She realized that she was about to cry and there seemed to be no way of stopping it. She looked next to her and noticed that Lisa seemed to have given way to her own emotions, the tears already flowing freely.  
"Ranma, you're alive!" Lisa said, jumping forward and into Ranma's awaiting arm, "You're alive! I can't believe it!"  
Ranma returned the embrace, "Sure am. It's great to be back. I'm glad too see you again. I like how you've grown your hair longer," He was greeted with a kiss before he was able to react once again. All the girls watched in jealousy and annoyance as Lisa took it upon herself to tilt her head back and plant a kiss on Ranma's lips. The kiss lasted for a moment. It was quite different from the other kisses from the other females. Lisa had kept it short, a friendly kiss, not one where she tried to invade his mouth.  
When Lisa broke the kiss, Ranma seemed almost pleasantly surprised. It was as if Lisa had given him a friendly kiss, not one she would had selfishly tried to receive from him like the others.  
"I can't wait to hear your story," Lisa commented with a warm smile, Ranma gave a meek smile and said, "Don't worry, you'll hear it. I'm just waiting for everyone to show up so I can't tell all of you at once,"  
"Gee, I assume you must had said that line several time by now," Lisa smiled.  
"Why yes, yes I have," Ranma smiled. She liked how understanding Lisa was, "You're the first one here to have said that,"  
Lisa smiled once more before walking past Ranma where she greeted everyone else, even Lina and Emiko.  
"I've never seen you two before," she said.  
Emiko and Lina introduced themselves. They regarded Lisa cautiously, coming to the conclusion that she seemed to be a nice person. She certainly conveyed no hostility toward the two of them as some kind of potential rival for Ranma's affections like the others.  
"You look great, Ritsuko," Ranma smiled warmly. He held his arms out as Ritsuko eagerly stepped forward and into his embrace, snuggling tightly against him, enjoying his warmth and closeness.  
"I'm so glad you're alive," she commented, "I thought I'd never see you again,"  
"I'm glad to be back," he replied.  
Ritsuko did the same thing as Lisa, seizing the day to steal a kiss from Ranma. Although it was something she believed she would had never done even under similar circumstances, it was the thought of Ranma disappearing once again and her losing the opportunity that made her do it.  
She gave him a kiss similar the one Lisa gave, a simple one that only lasted a second. When she pulled away, she had this terrible blush on her cheeks. That had been definitely unlike her to do.  
"I wish I could just stay here," she said, seemingly light-headed from the closeness to Ranma, "I wish I could just stay in your arms forever,"  
"Well you can't," came Misato's voice.  
Ritsuko sighed as she released her embrace to face her friend, "Hello, Misato,"  
"So, did you and Lisa finish the project you had been meaning to finish?" Misato asked. She noticed Ritsuko seemed to still be holding onto Ranma but felt it was downright rude to tell her to let go by now.  
Ritsuko nodded, "Yes. We only finished it about five minutes before we had to leave to catch the plane here,"  
"What project is that?" Ranma asked.  
Ritsuko finally released her embrace, "Well, you remember how I created the MAGI computer that was put into the EVA unit?"  
He nodded.  
"Well, since Lisa had extensive knowledge in boomer technology," Ritsuko said, "We combine our knowledge and created the most advanced and sentient boomer,"  
"A boomer?" Ranma's eyes narrowed. Hearing that word brought back bad memories of his past, something he wished to forget. "Why did you make one?" he asked, "You do know that they are illegal, right? They had been taken off the market, what, twelve or so years ago?"  
Ritsuko nodded, "We're well aware of that, but the one we made is so human that no one will be able to tell. Besides, it not too hard to keep the existence of boomers from the government. Take Akane for instance,"  
Ranma shrugged, "I guess you have a point there. So, are we ever going to see this boomer in action?"  
She shook her head sadly, "Unfortunately, that's not possible. We managed to get it up and running, but we ultimately had to shut it off because we had to leave to get to the airport. Besides, we haven't even done any testings yet. Right now, although its in a full grown adult female body, it's got the mindset of that of a newborn child. It's not even familiar with its body nor is it able to control it correctly,"  
Ranma's eyes lit up, "Hey, I just thought of something. Wouldn't it be cool if this boomer you made was so sentient that even though you turned it off, it managed to turn itself back on?"  
"What? Why do you say that?"  
"It kinda seems cool, like some kinda science fiction movie," he continued, "Imagine after turning itself on, although unused to its body, the boomer teaches itself how to walk and even talk and even understand the human language. And what'll be even cooler is that now that that boomer is self-aware, it comes out seeking its creator, you and Lisa, and goes out searching for you and has some kinda adventure in the process,"  
Ritsuko blinked several times as she just stared at Ranma.  
Ranma scratched his head and said to himself, "But then again, imagine that boomer turns itself on and wants to take over the world. That'll be a problem. That means I'll hafta stop it, meaning I'll have yet another adventure that just won't die,"  
"Hold on, Ranma," Ritsuko said, "You're getting way over your head here. I think you've been reading too much manga or watching too much anime and science fiction. Everything had been totally disconnected,"  
"I dunno," Ranma shrugged.  
"The boomer is nothing you have to worry about," Ritsuko said, "And even if that were to happen, Lisa and I are more than capable of creating a more powerful version of it to stop it,"  
"Yeah, but what happen if that verion you create decides it wants to take over the world," Ranma said.  
Ritsuko blinked several times once again. She gave a slight laugh and said, "Well, then I guess you'll have to get rid of the first one if something like that happen. It's not some kind of combat boomer or anything. It's simply one that is indistinguishible from a human, much like Akane. The only difference is instead of a personality derived from the Akane that had died through the use of decoding her DNA and uploading it into the body, this is a programmed personality the two of us created,"  
"Oh," he said.  
"There's nothing to worry about," she smiled.  
"I guess," he shrugged once again, "Well, let's change the subject. Anyway, I'm glad to see you again,"  
Misato, whom had listened to the whole conversation patiently until now, interreupted and said, "All who remains to arrive is Sylia and Nene,"  
"And speak of the devil," Ritsuko said in an amusing voice. She pointed toward Sylia and Nene who were chatting with each other near the other side of the terminal. It seemed they had both arrived at the same time on different planes and had bumped into each other while on their way to meet everyone else.  
"Sylia, Nene," Ranma called out to them, waving his hands in the air.  
Sylia's heart skipped a beat as she distictly recalled hearing Ranma's voice. It sounded so sweet. She quickly looked around for where it had come from, her gaze soon resting on Ranma just a short distance away.  
"Oh my god, it really is him," Nene commented to her long time friend, a friend she hadn't seen in a while.  
"Yes, it is," Sylia said, trying to keep her voice calm and casual. Deep inside, she was estatic, perhaps the happiest person in the world.  
Nene rushed forward to greet Ranma, jumping into his arms and giving him a warm yet passionate kiss. She said several words to him that Sylia couldn't hear but automatically assumed it was something along the lines of how much she had missed him and was glad to see him alive and well.  
"I'm glad to see you also," Sylia heard Ranma say to Nene as she approached the two of them.  
When Ranma noticed Sylia approaching, he gently broke his embrace with Nene so that he could at least give Sylia a hug also. Nene had told Ranma that she was very eager to hear the story of his adventure real soon before walking off to greet the rest of the group and meet Emiko and Lina.  
Ranma gave Sylia a hug, Sylia losing herself in his arms.  
"I'm so glad to see you," she commented.  
"I'm glad to see you also," came his reply.  
Sylia glance up and Ranma, feeling herself about to cry. She manage to keep her emotions under control as she continued to talk to him, telling him of how much she missed him and was looking forward to hearing his story.  
Ranma seemed a bit confused, "What, you don't wanna kiss me?"  
Sylia blushed, "K-kiss you?"  
She had definitely contemplated kissing him simply because he was there and there might be a possibility she would never have the chance again, but had chosen not to, not because she didn't want to kiss him, far from it, but rather felt he would most likely be annoyed by it since she was sure the others would had done what she wanted to do.  
Ranma shrugged, "Yeah, why not? That seems to be the trend for some reason,"  
She smiled, "I would, but if it bothers you, then I'll refrain from doing so,"  
He smiled warmly, "Gee, that's really nice of you,"  
When Sylia noticed Ranma was about to take advantage of her offer not to kiss him as he was about to turn around, she quickly said, "B-but I don't want to d-  
disappoint you since you're expecting it,"  
Before Ranma had a chance to do anything, Slyia decided she might as well live a little and took a step forward and tilted her head backwards, bringing her lips up against Ranma.  
The warmth that seeped through her she had longed for. She felt her knees buckle and her heart beating rapidly as she could felt Ranma's chest presed firmly against her breasts. When she released her hold of him, Ranma had a blush on his cheeks.  
He said, "Well, you and Nene are the last person to arrive. Madigan and Carper and their children will be meeting us at my place,"  
"Children? Madigan and Carper had another child?" Sylia was pleasantly surprised. But then again, she hadn't seen them in close to a year, afterall.  
He nodded, "Uh huh. Her name's Yuika. You'll meet her when we all get to my place. I haven't gotten the chance to really know her since she was asleep the whole time,"  
He turned around and headed back toward the group, Sylia following right next to him.  
"All right, guys, now that everyone is here, let's be on our way," he said.  
"Guys?" Lina gave Ranma an odd look, as if she had been insulted.  
"Nevermind. Let's just go,"

Ranma was walking on the fence as the group of females followed him closely on the sidewalk. None of them seemed to mind walking despite the most of them carrying luggage. Luckily, most of their luggage was light.  
"Why are you walking on the fence?" Emiko asked, "From what it looks like, I assume you're doing that because it'll help out with balance,"  
He nodded as he turned around and started walking backwards on it and said, "That's a very good guess. You're right,"  
"How's everyone else doing?" Linna asked, "You know, Asuka, Shinji, and Akane,"  
"Oh they're fine," he responeded, "And what's even better, Ryoga's back,"  
"H-he is? Really?" Misato said first.  
Everyone started barraging Ranma with questions about Ryoga, about where he had been all this time.  
Ranma said, "I dunno where's he been. I never really bothered asking,"  
"Why not?" Nene asked.  
"Why so? I don't really care where he's been. I'm glad he's back," Ranma said, "I'm not a girl,"  
"What's that supposed to mean?" several females asked in unison.  
"This is where it's much better being a guy," Ranma said confidently, "When we don't see a guy friend for a long time, and they finally show up, all we usually do is asking something like 'Where've you been?' and he'd respond with something like, 'Here and there', and that would be the end of it. I guy could take off right from where he last left off even if he hadn't seen his friend in a decade. It'd go something along the lines of, 'Hey, man, where have you been the last ten years?','Here and there','That's cool. I'm hungry, let's get some food'. Heh, unlike you women would would ask a million questions about his every waking day from the moment you last saw one another all the way until you finally meet once again,"  
"Aw man, not one of those men are better than women arguements again," Misato muttered.  
Lina looked at Misato, "What do you mean?"  
Sylia said, "Ranma believes that being male is better than being female. We all have these arguments. Ranma's just too stubborn to realize being female is much more advantageous that being male,"  
"I'm not that I'm stubborn," Ranma said, "It's just that you're all wrong,"  
"I've only met him a half hour ago and already I wanna kill him," Priss rubbed her temples.  
"Is he always like this?" Emiko asked.  
"More or less," Sylia replied.  
"Hey everyone," came a voice.  
Ranma turned around on the fence and realized that it was Madigan and Carper and their children. It seemed they had finished their quick meal and had been on their way to Ranma's place when they bumped into each other.  
"Uncle Ranma!" Jun walk up to the fence and held her hands upward.  
Ranma happily knelt down where he grabbed onto Jun's arms and hoisted her up and over his shoulders, "My my my, Jun. You're getting heavy. You've really grown up since I last saw you,"  
"I'm getting heavy? Are you saying I'm fat?" Jun squeaked.  
"Tell me I didn't just hear a nine year old ask if she was fat," Ranma muttered. Everyone started laughing.  
"Of course not," he answered Jun, "You're not fat at all. What we should do is go out and buy you some chocolate and junk food to eat. That way, we can help put some weight on because you're so thin,"  
Every female including Madigan sighed, their hearts aflutter. That was the sweetest thing they had ever heard. If a man, any man, said something like that to them, they'd be putty in his arms,"  
"Unlike these girls," Ranma said to Jun, gesturing to the group standing on the sidewalk, "They hafta cut back on the sweets,"  
Every female glared at him.  
"You baka!" they all shouted at him.  
Everyone entered Ranma's home. Shinji and Asuka had been in the livingroom at the time when the house became suddenly more cramped. The livingroom became extremely cramped now that it was being occupied by Sylia, Priss, Linna, Nene, Misato, Ritsuko, Madigan, Carper, Jun, Yuika, Asuka, Shinji, and Asuka. Everyone greeted each other, most of them not having seen each other for a decent amount of time. "Hey, where's Ryoga?" Ranma asked, realizing that someone was missing.  
"What do you think?" Akane smirked, "He wasn't here in the morning. I assume he went out on another training trip or another,"  
"Hm, it looks like we probably won't be seeing him for a while," Ranma shrugged.  
Linna looked at Ranma with narrow eyes, "That's it? You're not even going to look for him? He's been gone for several years and he shows up for a day or so and then disappears again, perhaps for just as long, and you're not at all upset? Aren't you at least regretful of not having found out where he had been all this time?"  
"No, why?" he asked.  
Linna sighed, "Forget it. It's over your head,"  
Ranma looked up, "Huh?"  
"Nevermind," she sighed again, "I was only speaking figuratively. Man, it's just that it's unfortunate he's not around. I'm really curious as to where he's been and what he had been up to,"  
Ranma scratched his chin, "Y'know what's weird. If Ryoga was a character in a book, he'd be a really cool plot device because he only shows up at the right time only to disappear shortly afterwards,"  
"What the heck are you talking about?" Linna seemed very confused.  
"It's weird," he continued on, "Ryoga showed up just at the right time to tell Asuka of how to use the nanban mirror. And the next time he shows up is several years later, which, incidently, it just the right moment for him to be bringing the nanban mirror back since I needed to use it,"  
"Huh?" Linna said, "Man, you totally lost me. I don't understand what the heck you're trying to convey,"  
He chuckled, "Nothing. Don't worry about it,"  
Everyone went about chatting with one another, most of them greeting Shinji, Asuka, and Akane. "Shinji, you've grown quite a bit since I last saw you," Misato teased him, "Heck, if I knew you were going to turn out this handsome, I'd have at least attempted to seduce you while you were younger,"  
"M-Misato-san," Shinji blushed a deep shade of red, looking down at the floor.  
"Hey, Asuka, long time no see," Misato quickly turned to Asuka, a big grin on her face, "Have you changed since I last saw you or do you still act like you've had your period like you usually do?"  
"What did you say?" Asuka sneered at Misato.  
Misato placed an arm casually around Asuka, laughing aloud, "C'mon, I was only teasing you. Can't you take a joke?"  
"Hmph!" she snorted in annoyance.  
"Well, now that everyone's here, let's all go out and get some grub," he said, "I'm starvin',"  
"All right, who the heck grabbed my butt?" Ranma called out when he had felt a hand brush over his backside. He knew that it was cramped in the room but never expected someone to take advantage of it. "It's because of this damn room," Akane commented, "It's too cramped in here. Let's all get outside,"  
One by one, everyone made a single file and exited the house into the backyard. Once outside, everyone made suggestions as to where to eat, most of the suggestions given by Shinji, Asuka, and Akane since they knew the new area the most.  
"There's a really nice restaurant just a short distance away," Akane suggested, "I've never been there before but I have been meaning to try the place out one day. Now's the best time as any,"  
"This is nice," Misato smiled warmly as she sat in her chair, "We haven't had our usual Friday night dinner in what felt like ages," She and everyone were gathered around a huge round table. It had been a tradition that that all of them have a weekly dinner but it had promptly ended at the conclusion of the 'Angel Wars'. It seemed that not having Ranma there to eat along with them seemed to be emotionally painful. However, this time around, it was different this time around. There were two new additions to the gathering, them being Lina and Emiko and the soundly sleeping Yuika.  
Madigan and Carper constantly took glances toward the carriage where Yuika was sleeping, knowing that once she awoken, they would have to leave to take her out of the restaurant because her constant crying would probably end up getting the entire group kicked out.  
"Hey, why dontcha wake up?" Ranma asked the baby, looking into the carriage.  
"H-hey, what're you doing? If she wakes up-" Carper gasped.  
The baby yawned as she stretched, opening her eyes up a tiny bit. Having been asleep for several hour, she opened her eyes to see a new imgage she had never seen, that being Ranma's smiling face.  
Yuika looked curiously at the face.  
"You're finally awake," Ranma smiled happily.  
"T-that's b-because y-you w-woke h-her u-up," Madigan said in a twitchy voice. Yuika started crying, wanting her bottle of milk.  
Ranma turned toward Madigan, "Do you have a bottle of milk?"  
Madigan, a bit surprised, reached into the pocket located on the back of the carriage and produced a bottle and handed it to him. She was surprised that Ranma would ask for it. Yuika seemed to always want a bottle of milk when she woke up after a nap.  
He leaned forward and gently placed the nipple of the bottle to Yuika's lips. She instantly started sucking on it, stopping her crying immediately.  
"Wow, sis quieted down real fast," Jun commented, "It usually takes you longer to get her to have her bottle, Mommy,"  
Madigan continued to stare as Ranma continued to feed Yuika.  
"Hey, I just realized something," Ranma commented, smirking as he pointed toward Madigan's chest, "Aren't you supposed to be breast feeding her?"  
Madigan blushed, "Well, yeah, I do-"  
"Cool," Ranma smiled, "Let's see ya do it,"  
"Pervert!" Asuka snorted in disgust.  
Madigan, still blushing, said, "If you'd let me finish my sentence, then you'd know why I don't breast feed her. It seems she's taken a liking to the formula version of breast milk instead of the real thing,"  
"Why? The real thing comes in a much nicer container," Ranma said dumbly.  
"Hey, that's my wife you're talking about," Carper said sternly. After a moment, he grinned proudly, "But then again, they are nice, aren't they?"  
"Yeah, I guess," Ranma nodded.  
"Thanks," Carper smiled with pride.  
"For your information, you have nothing to do with my breasts being the way they are," Madigan snapped angrily at her husband, "You're sleeping on the couch tonight!"  
Ranma started laughing.  
Everyone else soon started laughing as Carper sighed and hung his head dejectedly. Although the females seemed to find themselves a bit jealous of Madigan because Ranma had actually noticed her breasts, they soon found the situation very amusing.  
Ranma turned toward Yuika, "Ya hear that, Yui-chan?"  
The baby stopped suckling to look up at Ranma.  
"Your Mommy has just told your Daddy to sleep on the couch tonight," he answered Yuika's unspoken question before he continued to laugh again.  
The baby started laughing. Although for a brief moment, it seemed as the baby actually understood what Ranma had said and began laughing, but to group soon believed it was simply the heartwarming sight of Ranma laughing so carefree that made her start laughing.  
When everyone stopped laughing, they looked at Ranma.  
"Gee, for a minute, I really thought Yuika understood what you had just said," Madigan said, rubbing the tears from her eyes.  
All Ranma could do was look back, a bit confused, "What do you mean? She did understand what I just said. That's why she's laughing,"  
Everyone simply continued to stare at him.  
"Here, I'll show you," he said. He turned toward the carriage and held two fingers up, "Yui-chan, how many fingers am I holding up?"  
The baby made a cooing noise.  
"Y'see, she just said 'two'," he said with a grin.  
Everyone started laughing again.  
"That was a good one, Ranma," Priss laughed, leaning back in her chair, "Understanding what a baby is saying,"  
Ranma shrugged, "All right. It doesn't matter to me if anyone believes me or not,"  
A waitress approached the table. Everyone placed their orders, Madigan and Carper ordering far less since they had eater earlier, before resuming their conversing.  
"Is it all right if I hold Yuika?" Ranma asked Madigan and Carper.  
"If you're up to the task," Madigan said.  
Ranma reached into the carriage and brought the baby up and into his arms, placing her down on his lap so that they were facing each other. Madigan and Carper just sat their in shock as Yuika continued to gaze up at Ranma, showing no indication of wanting to cry.  
"Wow, she isn't crying," Jun commented.  
"Does she cry often?" Sylia asked Madigan.  
It was almost a minute before Madigan managed to push back her shock to answer. She said, "She used to cry all the time. This is actually the first time I've ever seen her awake, without a bottle in her mouth, and not crying,"  
"You don't think Ranma has anything to do with it, do you?" Nene asked no one in particular.  
Ritsuko answered, "It could. Whatever he's doing, he's doing it right because the baby seems really content and comfortable with him,"  
"Hey, it'd be cool to have a baby," Ranma commented aloud, "Maybe I should have one," He turned toward a random female, whom happen to be Syila, "Sylia, what do you think? You think I should have a baby? Would you help me out?"  
Sylia blushed beet red. She was caught totally off-guard by that question.  
"Um, er..." she stammered, her heart racing.  
By then, Ranma already moved onto another random female, it being Priss, "What about you? Would you help me out instead?"  
The baby cooed again before Priss had managed to give an input on Ranma's comment, to make a statement that would had made an impact and let him know that she wasn't opposed to it.  
"What? I am not too young to have one," he answered Yuika, "Heck, I'm around eighty. As a matter of fact, some would say I'm too old to have one,"  
"Not from where I'm sitting," Misato made a quiet comment.  
The waitress approached the table with several trays of food.  
"The rest is on the way," she said, placing several plates down.  
"Thanks," Ranma smiled.  
The waitress blushed, "Y-you're w-welcome,"  
Ranma turned back toward Yuika and asked, "So, how do you like being a baby? It's pretty cool, right? Everything you see is new to you. Heck, learning to be walk will be quite an adventure,"  
The baby squeaked happily, flailing her arms. Everyone seemed to watch the interaction between Ranma and Yuika. Ranma conveyed this extreme competence with children that every female in the entire restaurant had noticed, making them wonder if they would ever meet someone that would even be half as good with their children when they're born.  
"You're going to grow up to be a great father, Ranma," Ritsuko said with a sigh, resting an elbow on the table with her chin resting the palm of her hand.  
"Thanks," he smiled.  
He turned back toward Yuika, "You're gonna grow up to be very beautiful. And if you're even half as sweet as you are now, you're gonna hafta beat those boys off with a stick,"  
Yuika made some more cute sounding noises.  
Ranma laughed as if Yuika had made a joke that only he was able to understand. He spent a short time bouncing Yuika up and down on his thigh, the baby squeaking happily from the attention he was giving her.  
When the rest of the food finally arrived, Ranma gently placed Yuika back in the carriage. "We're gonna eat now," he told her, "I know you'd like to eat along with us, but your baby teeth haven't grown in yet so you can't eat the food we're eating now. Why dontcha get some sleep? If ya want, why not wake back up in a short while. I'll be more than happy to play with you,"  
Yuika smiled, seemingly happy with the proposal.  
Once Yuika was put back into the carriage, rather than start crying like Madigan was expecting, she yawned and closed her eyes as Ranma placed the tiny blanket that had been covering her initially when he had awoken her.  
Everyone continued to simply stare, Madigan and Carper especially shocked that Yuika went right back asleep instead of crying herself to sleep like usual.  
Ranma proceeded to eat his food. When he noticed no one else was, he stopped to gaze around at everyone.  
"What? What's wrong?"  
Everyone entered Ranma's home, chatting up a storm and generally talking about nothing. It was a bit late in the evening, but not so late that it was very dark out. The sky was a dull red from the setting of the sun just a short while ago.  
"That had been a really good meal," Akane commented, "I missed those weekly dinners like we used to have. That brought back memories,"  
"Agreed," several females said in nostalgic unison.  
"All right. The sleeping arrangments," Ranma said, turning to face everyone now that they were in the livingroom and said, "Lina and Emiko can sleep with me in my room. Asuka and Shinji can sleep with Akane in her room. Madigan, Jun, and Yuika can sleep in Asuka's room. Lisa and Ritsuko and Misato can sleep in Ryoga's room. Linna and Nene can sleep in Shinji's room. Lina and Emiko can sleep in Rei's room. And last but not least, Carper can sleep out here on the couch since that's what Madigan had said earlier,"  
"Can't I sleep with you instead?" Misato almost pouted.  
Ranma laughed aloud, "Yeah right. I don't wanna wake up in a position different from the one I had originally went to sleep in. The sleeping arrangements stay,"

Ranma and Asuka sat in the livingroom together. They were both watching television, Asuka sitting next to Ranma, Ranma oblivious to the awkwardness Asuka was feeling sitting so close to him. No one else was in the house, Akane, Misato, Ritsuko, Priss, Sylia, Nene, Linna, having gone out to basically have a girls' night on the town. Shinji was in the dojo practicing. Lina was in Akane's room, reading the extensive manga collection that she seemed to have. Akane had given her permission.  
"So, Asuka, how's everything going?" Ranma asked from out of the blue when the show they were watching went to a commercial break. He leaned back on the couch, stretching his arms along the back of it, one arm almost reaching around and over Asuka's shoulders.  
"Why do you ask that all of a sudden?" Asuka asked, very aware of Ranma's arm. She wondered if him snaking his arm over her shoulder was just a way of teasing her just to get a reaction. Ranma said, "Well, I was just curious. A bit of time have passed. For instance, I didn't know that you and Shinji were attending college now until you guys told me,"  
"What did you think? That we were going to be attending high school for the rest of our lives?" she asked.  
He shrugged, "No, it's not that. It's just that I find it rather surprising at how much you and Shinji have grown up since we last saw each other,"  
Asuka said nothing for close to a minute, taking in Ranma's comment. She wondered if that was some kind of compliment, that she was more mature now than before.  
"How's school goin' and such?" he asked.  
"What's with all the questions?" Asuka semed a bit suspicious. Ranma seemed to never really show any interest in what she, Shinji, or Rei did when they were living together. Why the change all of a sudden?  
"All right, fine. Forget I asked," he turned his attention back toward the television.  
Asuka quickly said, "Well, if you really want to know, school's going fine. I'm maintaining perfect grades,"  
She smiled a bit. Although she was proud of being the perfect student and receiving the highest possible grades in all of her classes, being able to tell this to Ranma made it all that more worthwhile. Perhaps it was because he seemed genuinely interested.  
"That's good to hear," he smiled, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, what with you being so smart and all,"  
Asuka blushed. She knew that, without a shadow of a doubt, Ranma had just complimented her, "Thanks,"  
After a moment of silence, Asuka said, "Did you know that I got a job?"  
"Really?" Ranma seemed interested, "Whatcha do?"  
"I'm a model," she replied. Although to some extent, she didn't really care about being a model, she was also considered one of the most beautiful person to have ever popped up onto the modelling scene. That meant something. There was one thing that bothered her to quite a degree though. Any guy would give their right arm to know a girl like her, let alone be with her. All except Ranma.  
"That's cool I guess," he said, a bit disinterested. He felt a bit disappointed as a matter of fact.  
"What?" she asked, noticing this.  
"Well, I was kinda hoping you would teach martial arts or something of the like," he commented, "I figured you like it enough to want to continue training and perhaps teach it someday,"  
Asuka seemed a bit relieved when he said this. She replied, "Oh, I do as a matter of fact. I'm just modelling on the side at the moment,"  
Ranma's eyes lit up, "Y-you do? Really? You're going to become a sensei? That's great!" In a fit of happiness, Ranma got up to his feet and picked Asuka up, embracing her and swinging her around a few times. Over the years, he had come to realize that deep in his heart, he loved the Art. And now, realizing that it was going to be carried on made his heart soar.  
Asuka gasped as she realized Ranma was hugging her tightly, their bodies pressed closely to one another. When he realized what he was doing, Ranma quickly put Asuka back down onto her feet, giving her a meek smile, "Sorry about that. I guess I got caught up at the moment,"  
"Um, it's a-all right," she blushed a bit, "I-I never realized y-you wanted someone to carry on 'Anything Goes Martial Arts' that much,"  
He smiled warmly, "Now I realize why my old man had wanted me and Akane to carry on the dojo. The thought of our legacy being carried on for future generations to come is quite an estatic one,"  
"Um, I'm glad to hear it," she said softly, still smiling.  
Ranma grabbed her hand, "C'mon, let's goto the dojo and practice a bit. I'm very eager to see what you've learned since the last time we've seen each other,"  
Before Asuka had time to protest, she found herself desperately trying to keep her footing as she followed behind Ranma as he nearly half-dragged her toward the dojo.

Emiko entered the dojo and seemed almost pleasantly surprised to see Shinji hard at work trying perfect his kata. It was a nice feeling knowing that there was someone on another world that cared as much about his or her Art as Emiko did for her own Art.  
Shinji stopped his kata when he noticed the beautiful ninja girl enter the dojo. She was clad in a dogi Akane must had dug up for her when she expressed interest in practicing in the dojo not too long ago.  
"Um, hi," Shinji said, smiling nervously.  
"I see you're hard at work," she smiled warmly.  
Shinji blushed a bit, "Um, I g-guess you could say that,"  
"You're a very skilled martial artist," she commented. She had meant to say that when she had seen him sparring against Ranma and actually come close to hitting him earlier in the day.  
Shinji blushed a deep shade of red, "T-thank you," When he felt an awkward silence creeping up, he felt the need to continue on the conversation and asked, "Do you do martial arts?"  
Emiko smiled proudly, "Yes, I do. I've been doing it all of my life. And yourself?"  
"Only a couple of years," he said meekly, feeling inadequate. She would most likely be able to bury him if they were to spar. He could tell actually. He noticed that beneath those feminine curves and beautiful fascade there seemed to reside a very powerful and formidable fighter.  
Emiko's eyes widened, "You've only been practicing for a couple of years? That's very good. It's not uncommon for people to be practicing decades to reach your level,"  
"I guess I've had a good teacher," he smiled, not really looking at Emiko. She was very beautiful and he didn't want her thinking he was oogling at her.  
"Ranma taught you?"  
Shinji shook his head, "No. Akane. She's been teaching me more. When Ranma was here, he would teach me on and off. Akane basically teaches me everyday,"  
"Akane must be very skilled then," Emiko stated.  
Shinji nodded.  
"How about Ranma?" she asked.  
"Huh? What about him?"  
"Is he very skilled?" she had to ask. Although the two of them had fought briefly, they hadn't fought long enough to know just how good a fighter he was. All she knew was that Ranma, despite his laid-back appearance and composure, had this almost dormant omnipotence to him.  
Shinji seemed surprised at the question, "Skilled?"  
She nodded.  
He scratched his head, "Well, from what I have seen, I believe he's an extremely skilled martial artist. Ryoga Hibiki is also very skilled but I'm not too sure who would be better. They seem to be about even in terms of skill even though they have two totally different styles of fighting,"  
"Go on," she said. She found this conversation very enlightening.  
"I've seen Ranma do some pretty scary stuff, and I'm sure that only scratches the surface of what he's capable of doing," he continued.  
"I agree," Emiko nodded.  
"Is there anything else you would like to know about him?" Shinji asked, "You seem to want to be interested in him quite a bit,"  
Emiko was a bit surprised at his comment. Was she that obvious? It hadn't really meant to be. She was merely curious and hadn't come into the dojo to interrogate Shinji about Ranma. She had to give Shinji a bit of respect for being perceptive enough to notice this.  
"I hadn't intentionally come in to prod information from you on Ranma," she said sincerely, "I guess the subject of the conversation had accidentally moved onto him. I had originally come in her to practice,"  
Shinji smiled a bit, jerking a thumb toward one corner of the dojo, "By all means, do. I'll practice over there so I won't get in your way,"  
"Thanks," she said.  
Shinji walked over to one corner of the dojo, stealing glances she went about doing her own katas. It didn't take long to notice that she was very skilled, perhaps almost as skilled as Akane. It would be very interesting to see the two of them spar. The outcome could go to either of them, provided none of them held back.  
"If you wish to watch, there's no need to watch from all the way over there," Emiko said.  
Shinji blushed a deep shade of red when he noticed that he had been basically staring at her most of the time. He quickly apologized for his behavior and turned his back toward her and went about doing his own katas. Emiko smiled warmly as she watched Shinji's back. It didn't take her long to realize that Shinji seem to have a bit of an attraction toward her. In a way, she was flattered. She had to admit that Shinji was a rather handsome individual but she knew that nothing would come of it. She had Ranma. Despite Ranma's obvious flaw, he was still the right person for her. She simply had to make sure Shinji didn't get his feelings hurt in the process because he seemed like a really nice person and she had nothing against him.  
"Whatcha doin', staring at his butt?" came Ranma's voice as he whispered into her ear.  
Emiko shrieked in surprise. When she quickly turned to face in the direction of the voice, she was stunned to see Ranma standing next to her, a wicked grin on his face.  
"H-how the h-heck did you get so close?" Emiko gasped, her heart in her throat. She was very angry at Ranma for sneaking up and scaring her like that and also at herself for now having sensed his presence until he had made it known.  
Ranma let out a laugh, "Ya gotta be kidding. You really think you're gonna be able to sense my approach if I didn't want you to?" "Aren't we modest today?" Asuka commented sarcastically, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She hadn't really appreciated Ranma half-dragging her to the dojo for a sparring session but had relucatantly allowed him to do so. Now that she realized Emiko was also in the dojo, it seemed like a bad idea. She didn't want to be in the same room as her.  
"Hello, Ranma," Shinji, having noticed Ranma and approached him, "Hey, Asuka,"  
"Hey, Shinji," Asuka gave him a rather disinterested reply.  
Emiko narrowed her eyes at Asuka, "What're you doing here?"  
"I was about to ask you the same thing," she snapped back.  
Ranma waved his hands, "Quit the bickering,"  
"Hmph!" both girls turned their back toward one another.  
"Jeez," he muttered. He turned toward Shinji, "I see you were hard at work practicing. I guess the saying 'practice makes perfect' holds true for you. Your form is perfect,"  
"T-thank you," Shinji said gatefully, "It means a lot coming from you,"  
"That's because you've been doing the same kata over and over again for the past couple of months," Asuka muttered. She was angry at Emiko being there and felt the need to let out her anger at something or someone. Shinji was good enough substitute, "Heck, if you didn't get the form for the kata right by now, then something must be seriously wrong with you,"  
"Let's see you do it," Ranma smirked at Asuka.  
"I don't need to prove anything," she retorted in disdain, "I know my form is perfect," She smirked a bit toward Emiko, "And the same thing goes for my martial arts,"  
Ranma was silent for a moment.  
He then chuckled, "Oh, I get it,"  
"How about we have a little sparring session?" Emiko smirked.  
"Yeah, why not?" Ranma smiled toward Asuka.  
Asuka regarded Emiko for several long moments, sizing her up. "I guess so," Asuka shrugged with a smirk, "I don't see a problem in it,"  
Emiko smiled. She was going to wipe that smirk right off of Asuka's face the painful way.  
Add in quick scene where Emiko and Asuka spar

new stuff 7/21

Emiko yawned as she quietly walked through the house. Her eyes still hurt, barely used to the morning sunlight filtering in through the windows as she made her way down the stairs and toward the kitchen.  
She couldn't help but smile when she saw Carper's sleeping form huddled on the couch, covered only by a thin blanket. Luckily, it hadn't been cold that night.  
She rubbed at the back of her neck, a bit surprised at the soreness she was feeling. It was exact feeling of soreness one would have the very next day after a hard workout. That surprised her. Could that sparring session had taken that much out of her that she would be sore the next day? She let out an annoyed breath. She hoped that wasn't true because if it were, then that meant Asuka was a lot better than Emiko had originally thought.  
"Good morning, sleepyhead," sounded way too sexy to be heard this early in the morning. Ranma's voice had made Emiko wide awake.  
She looked up and saw Ranma standing in front of the stove, preparing breakfast for himself.  
"Um, good morning," she said, feigning sleepiness. She wondered if she should leave the room since Ranma's presence seemed to make it feel so much smaller.  
"I'm cookin' some breakfast," he said, turning back onto the stove, "I'm making a bacon, ham, and onion omlette. Would you like one?"  
She hesitated for a short moment before nodding, "I guess so,"  
He jerked a thumb toward the fridge, "You know where the ingredients are kept. Help yourself,"  
Emiko's face faulted. For a brief moment, she had actually believe Ranma would be sweet enough to make her breakfast.  
She sighed as she got up and walked over to the fridge and located the ingredients. She winced slightly as she felt a sharp pain in the back of her lower neck.  
"Hand them here," Ranma said, not bothering to look over his shoulder.  
Emiko handed Ranma the items.  
When Ranma proceeded to chop the onions and ham and bacon, Emiko immediately realized that all he had wanted her to do was just get the items. It seemed Ranam was being sweet enough to cook her some breakfast. When she noticed Ranma chopping an overly large portion of the items, she quickly spoke up.  
"Um, I'm not that hungry," she said softly, wondering if she should at least offer some help. She chose to watch for fear of getting in Ranma's way. He seemed pretty efficient in the kitchen on his own.  
Ranma said, "So? It ain't all for you. I figure everyone's gonna be up in a short while. I might as well prepare breakfast for all of 'em,"  
"Oh," she said, a bit crestfallen.  
Ranma noticed the slight change in tone in Emiko's voice. He smirked and turned toward her, "What's with the change in tone? From what I'm hearing, it seems you're sad that I'm preparing breakfast for everybody. Why is that? Could it be that you were hoping I would prepare breakfast for only you?"  
He turned back toward the stove before Emiko had a chance to make a angry look at him.  
Emiko blushed but said, "Um, no. That's not at all,"  
When she sat down, she winced again when she realized that not only her upper body seemed to be sore. Her backside seemed to be sore quite a bit also.  
"What's up? Ya sore from last night's sparring session with Asuka?" Ranma asked without even needing to look at her. He continued to cook.  
She said nothing, too prideful to want to acknowledge Asuka's skill.  
Ranma lowered the fire on the stove and walked over to where she sat. When she noticed how close he was to her, she became a bit on edge, leaning back in her chair as she faced toward him.  
"What?" she asked nervously.  
"Jus' turn around. I'll give ya a quick massage," he said matter of factly, "It'll ease the pain away in no time,"  
"I don't need one," she quickly replied.  
Ranma scratched the back of his head as if perplexed, "Man, you are one cryptic female. Y'know that? One second you get jealous because you're not getting my full attention and the next second, you shy away when I am giving you my full attention,"  
"I was not jealous!" Emiko shot up, regretting having done that when she felt jolts of pain shooting through her body.  
Ranma stood where he was as Emiko desperately tried to hide the pain, much to no avail. He smiled when she sat back down, hoping he hadn't seened her moment of vulnerability.  
He and said, "You're not fooling anyone, especially myself. From what I gather, you seem to be angry at yourself for being sore from sparring against Asuka. You're also jealous that I'm not making breakfast for only yourself, meaing giving you my full attention. And you also don't seem to know how to react when I actually do,"  
Emiko's lips became a thin line as she desperately tried to think of something to say in reply, coming up with nothing.  
"I think I might know why," he smirked, "You're used to the role between the two of us. You're used to me always annoying you all the time because that's the only part of me that you know how to deal with,"  
"I-I am not!" she stammered, heat flooding to her cheeks.  
"Yeah," he continued on, "You felt comfortable back on your world, because it had only been you, Lina, and myself. And you knew where you stood on that world. However, ever since you came here, to the world I'm used to, and you realize how many people I know and well as how many people knew me, you're starting to feel worried as to what role you play on this world,"  
Emiko was deathly silent. Ranma had hit it right on the nail, word for word. From what she had seen and done, if felt as if she was just another person that seemed to be infactuated with him, much like Misato and the others.  
Ranma sat down on the chair next to her and sighed, looking down at the floor and shaking his head, "Man, this is getting a bit complicated," "Um, just where d-do I stand?" Emiko dared to ask.  
"Huh?" he looked at her in confusion.  
"W-where do I stand on this world? Heck, where do Lina and myself stand on this world?" she asked, "D-do you consider use intruders?"  
For a brief moment, Emiko felt like crying because she feared what he might say. It wasn't the thought of him considering her some kind of pest, no, it was that moment of realization that she would actually go back home if he had said so. If she left, then he would be happy. But if that were true, then what about her loyalty to her clan, to marry the man that had unmasked her?  
Ranma scratched his head as if deep in thought as to what to say next. He noticed that Emiko seemed to be very eager as well as reluctant to hear what he would say next.  
"Actually, if ya really wanna know," he began, "If I were to consider you and Lina an intruder on this world, then that would hafta go for Asuka, Shinji, Misato, Ritsuko, and as well as myself,"  
"What?"  
"Remember the huge talk everyone had on the night we came back?" he continued, "All three of us aren't from this world. I'm actually from the exact same world you're from,"  
"But-"  
"And the one before me? My other self? Well, he was from the world Asuka and Shinji and Misato and Ritsuko are from," he said, "All in all, most of us are intruders on this world,"  
Emiko was silent for a moment, contemplating what he had said before asking, "If you're from my world, then why didn't you stay?"  
He shook his head, "Didn't want to. It's a nice world and all, but this is the world I'm familiar with and where people know me real well. Your world was a nice place to visit, but not the place I wanted to live,"  
When Ranma noticed that the food started to smell as it was burning, he quickly turned his attention back on it. He turned off the fire on the stove before turning back to Emiko and saying, "If you really wanna know 'where you stand' with me, let's just say that you don't have anything to worry about,"  
Emiko smiled, more satisfied with that answer than she should be, "Thanks,"  
"Now, do you want a neck rub or not?" he changed the subject.  
She nodded, "Um, I guess so,"  
When Ranma got close to her, she started having doubts. But when he placed his hands on the muscles around her neck and started kneading and rubbing them, her doubts immediately vanished.  
"Better?" he asked after a minute.  
Emiko was so relaxed that she had almost fell asleep. She managed to say, "Yes,"  
At that moment, a very sleepy Lina entered the kitchen. She instantly snapped awake when she noticed Ranma standing behind Emiko, his hands rubbing her neck muscles.  
"W-what are y-you doing?" she glared at Ranma.  
Ranma wasn't intimidated, "What's it look like? I'm givin' her a neck rub,"  
Lina found herself getting extremely angry.  
"Why're you gettin' angry?" he asked.  
She let out an annoyed breath, "I-I'm not angry!"  
He narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, you pretend that," He returned to giving Emiko a neck rub. Emiko, deep down inside, was as high as a kite. Ranma's neckrubs were not only mindnumbingly relaxing, but the thought of Lina angry at the attention he was giving Emiko and not her made the experience all the more enjoyable.  
Lina, not really knowing what to do, let out an annoyed breath and quickly left the room.  
"Fine, go ahead and give her a neckrub!" she said, "See if I care!"  
"Bye," Emiko said, her eyes closed, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out,"  
"Why you!"

Ranma entered the bathroom as Lina was finished with her morning bath. She had just taken a bubble bath. She had been furious with what had happened earlier that she needed something to calm her nerves. A bubble bath seemed perfect for the job.  
"Pervert!" she shouted, quickly ducking back into the water.  
"Relax," he said, walking over to the sink and proceeding to brush his teeth. He needed to get rid of this nasty aftertaste that he had ever since that morning breakfast. "It's not like I haven't seen you naked before," he added, turning around to face her, the small of his back resting against the edge of the sink.  
"Get out!" Lina said.  
Ranma chuckled, "Yeah, like I'm really gonna listen to you,"  
Lina held a hand forward, a fireball appearing and hovering just millimeters from her palm. Although she was furious, she was a bit surprised that she hadn't simply shot him already.  
"You're showing," he commented, toothbrush still in his mouth.  
Lina quickly retracted her hands to cover her breasts.  
"Don't worry, I'll be done in a minute," he said, turning his back toward her. "Haven't you heard of something called privacy?" Lina shouted.  
He turned back toward her, "Yeah, so?"  
"I'd like to have my privacy," she barely managed to keep herself under control, "This is very...e-embarrassing,"  
So embarrassing for her that she knew that as soon as she got out of the bathtub and was dressed, she was going to kill him.  
He continued brushing and said, "How's it embarrassing? There's nothing you have to be embarrassed about,"  
She blushed, heat flooding to her cheeks. In some insane way, it seemed Ranma had just complimented her. For a brief moment, she forgot how embarrassed she had been and felt very flattered.  
"Um, t-thank you," she said. When she realized that she shouldn't be flattered and furious instead, she quickly became angry again, "That still doesn't give you a reason to come barging in here!"  
"Why? It's my house," he grinned, kneeling down, resting his arms on the edge of the bathtub, his chin resting on his forearms, "You're also using my bathtub and using my water,"  
Lina was very silent.  
He smiled again, but this time, the toothbrush in his mouth accidentally fell out and into the bathtub. Before he realized that he wasn't supposed to have done so, Ranma reached out and into the water in an attempt to retreive the lost toothbrush. Before he realized that he hadn't grabbed the toothbrush. Although he thought he had grabbed the brush end of the toothbrush, it really hadn't been the bristles he had brushed his hand up against.  
"You pervert! You touched me there on purpose!" Lina shouted, entending both hands forward and shooting a fireball right into Ranma's face. The fireball wasn't any larger than a basketball, but it was extremely concentrated, Lina intending to shoot Ranma's head right off his shoulders.  
The explosion shook the house and filled the bathroom with smoke. When the smoke cleared out through the opening directly behind Ranma and into the , all that could be seen was the whites of Ranma's eyes as he peered at her through a soot-ridden face.  
He stood up and let out an annoyed breath, "I'm gonna let that slide because I was at fault. However, that hole in my wall, you're gonna be fixing that up,"  
He walked over to where the towel rack was and picked up a wash cloth, cleaning his face of the soot before throwing the blackened wash cloth in the the wastebasket.  
He left the room, leaving behind the fuming Lina all by her lonesome, as well as that gaping hole in the wall where the outside world could see in through.  
Lina stayed in the bathtub for several minutes, pondering on the situation that had just transpired. Ranma had just taken a fireball at point blank range right in the face, perhaps one of Lina's most powerful fireballs, and all that it had done was sorch his face. Otherwise, he seemed uneffected. That wasn't right.  
He was supposed to had gotten hurt at least.

"Um, can I ask you something?" Lina approached Akane as she was feeding the koi in the tiny pond in the backyard. Everyone else was inside simply conversing. It was barely in the afternoon. Everyone was talking about what they should do for the day, to help get more reaquainted.  
Akane finished feeding the fish before turning toward the young magician, "Sure, what is it? Is it about that big gaping hole you made in the bathroom?"  
Lina gave a meek laugh, "Um, more or less,"  
Akane sat down on a nearby boulder, dipping her naked feet into the koi pond. She giggled a bit when the koi mistakened her toes for food and started nibbling on them.  
"Actually, it's more about Ranma than the hole," Lina said. For some reason, she didn't seem to feel all that embarrassed confiding in Akane. There was just something about her that made Lina feel comforatable around her, comfortable enough to be a bit more personal with.  
"What about him?"  
Lina took a deep breath. She asked, "Well, this morning, Ranma, um-"  
"Walked in on you while you were taking a bath?" Akane smirked, finishing the sentence for her.  
"Yeah," Lina nodded, "How did you know?"  
Akane laughed a bit, "Don't worry. You'll get used to it. Ranma tends to be much less embarrassed about situations now,"  
"How so?"  
"I think it has to do with his past," Akane replied, "He's basically been through so much that nothing much really surprises him that much anymore. Besides, he's been in those situations enough times. So, what about him?"  
"Well, when we first met," Lina continued on, "I remember Ranma being, um, a lot weaker than before,"  
"Weaker? How so?"  
Lina gave a meek laugh and said, "Well, h-he used to actually get hurt by my fireballs,"  
Akane regarded Lina for several moments.  
"He brushed off my fireball like it was nothing," Lina said, a bit annoyed.  
Akane laughed before she shrugged, "Welcome to the group,"  
"Oh?"  
"Aside from Ryoga, who is never here, I've actually known Ranma the longest out anyone here," Akane said in an almost maternal voice, "When we first met, he was very...touchable,"  
Lina blushed, "T-t-touchable?"  
Akane laughed again, "Not like that! I'm talking about how he could actually get hurt and come close to beind defeated,"  
"All right, I think I understand whatcha mean,"  
"Anyway, ever since Ranma came back from his training trip about twelve years ago," Akane continued, "His skill shoted past everyone in terms of skill and power levels. The only person that was close to his level of power is Ryoga. They tend to keep each other in check actually,"  
"Where is he? I remember only seeing him once, on the night the three of us came to this world," Lina said.  
"He comes and goes," Akane shrugged, "Anyway, back onto Ranma. Whatever power level you were in relation to Ranma's, you better continue on practicing or Ranma's gonna shoot right past you and you'll never be able to catch up,"  
Lina laughed. Ranma? More powerful than Lina? Ha!  
"What's so funny?" Akane smirked a bit.  
"Ranma's not more powerful than me," Lina stated.  
"You sure about that?" Akane continued to smirk, "Sure, I've never actually seen what you're capable of, but I think I know Ranma pretty well and am pretty sure that you haven't seen what he was capable of either,"  
Lina was silent. She did recall Ranma doing so things that she had believe impossible until she actually saw him do it, like deflect her fireballs. Her fireballs were supposed to explode upon contact, afterall.  
"I assume you've never seen his seppukku blasts either, huh?" Akane smirked.  
"Seppukku blast?" Lina asked. She swore she had heard something about that before but couldn't quite remember where and when.  
"It's his most powerful ki based attack," she replied.  
Lina smirked, "Most powerful, huh? I wouldn't mind seeing that," She laughed again, "I betcha it's not even half as powerful as my Dragon Slave. And it's a no contest if I were to use my Giga Slave,"  
Akane shrugged, "Maybe. Maybe not,"  
Lina found herself getting a bit angry. Akane didn't seem to believe her. Was that seppukku blast of Ranma's that powerful? She had to see that for herself. "Well, thanks for your help," Lina said warmly.  
"Sure, no problem," Akane turned back toward the koi pond.  
Lina headed back toward the house, speaking softly to herself, "Ranma, more powerful than me? No way,"

Ranma's hands were on his hips as he looked at the hole in the wall of the bathroom. He could easily see the backyard. He shook his head and sighed, "Man, that's one big hole. This is even bigger of a hole than that Misato incident for the other time,"  
Lina peeked her head in through the door opening. She had overheard him muttering to himself. She looked at the hole in the wall, "Y-you're right, that is a big hole,"  
He turned to face her, a smirk on his lips, "Guess who's gonna have the enjoyment of fixing it?"  
He smiled a bit. He was going to make her dread the thought of having to fix that hole. He was going to have his fun for the time being. In actuality, he was kind of grateful. The hole was more than large enough to actually squeeze in one of those jacuzzi thingies he had always wanted. When he turned toward her to see her reaction upon finding out that she was going to have to fix that hole, he noticed that she seemed preoccupied staring at it.  
He sat down on the edge of the bathtub and leaned toward her, "Yo,"  
"W-what?" she snapped to attention.  
"It was as if you were surprised to see that hole here...even though you were the one that caused it," he shrugged, "What gives?"  
"Um, n-nothing," she said softly.  
"C'mon, what is it, I know you're hiding something,"  
She let out a breath and said, "I was just talking to Akane,"  
"Yeah, so?" he seemed a bit disinterested, "What about it? What didja talk about?"  
"About you,"  
Ranma perked an eyebrow, "Oh? What about me?"  
She almost didn't want to tell him, figuring him hearing something like this would already boost his inflated ego. She reluctantly said, "It has to do with what happened this morning,"  
"You mean when I saw you naked?" he asked dumbly.  
Lina's eyes twitched a bit as she recalled that horribly embarrassing situation that had transpired. It took all her willpower to keep from throwing another fireball in Ranma's face. She still owed him for that damn peep show he had bestowed on himself...and that doesn't even count with him having groped her.  
When Lina said nothing for a short moment and simply standing there getting angry, he cleared his throat to get her attention.  
"What about it?" he asked.  
"Well," she managed to calm herself, "You took that fireball of mine at point blank range..."  
Ranma smiled, "Oh, I get it,"  
"Get what?" she looked up at him.  
"You're upset that I basically brushed it off," he smirked.  
Lina was silent. Damn, that was a real good guess on his part.  
He sat down on the edge of the tub and said, "When we first met, I wasn't prepared to go against magic stuff such as your fireballs and ice and flame arrows and even that Dragon Slave spell of yours. But as you kept using them, I eventually got used to them. Basically, at this point of time, I'm used to it,"  
"What?" Lina snapped.  
He grinned confidently, "You remember shortly after you blew up that inn, we both made a getaway from that really angry innkeeper?"  
Lina thought about it for a short moment, "What about it?"  
"Remember after we stopped to catch our breath and soon immediately started getting into an argument again?" he said, "Well, remember when I told ya that the only way you were gonna beat me with those fireballs is if you catch me off guard? Well, I'm so used to your fireballs that you'll never catch me off guard anymore. That's when you decided to barrage me with all those other spells,"  
Lina smirked, "I remember that. You didn't stand a chance. After a while, you realized that it that my spells were too powerful and had decided to give up,"  
He shrugged, "Yeah, more or less. However, I had a hidden agenda with making you get angry enough with me to actually attack me,"  
"What the heck are you talking about?"  
"I had wanted you to give it all that you've got, and that's what you did," he smiled, "That incident had allowed me to see what you were capable of. Of course, I did get hurt in the process, but eventually, I was able to learn what spells did what. And since I remember what spells does what, it's very easy for me to counter it. Although it's not my style to be bit deceptive, it did, however, definitely helped out in the end,"  
"What?" Lina shouted, fuming, "Y-you deceived me?"  
"I wouldn't necessarily say it that way..." he said with s shrug, "But it's kinda hard to consider it much else,"  
"Ha, you've only seen what I was only half capable of," Lina laughed confidently, "And all those spells that I had used, I am capable of making them far more powerful,"  
He shrugged, "Yeah, so? I still know what spells they are,"  
Lina's jaw tightened. That was true. Although she could easily alter the power of her spells, the spell itself and its effectiveness or casting time didn't really vary. That was a definite disadvantage for her.  
He continued to grin, "And that doesn't even include the fact that I also know stuff similar to whatcha do. The only difference is that you've never really seen it or know how to counter it. Heck, I know of stuff that'll probably put that Dragon Slave spell of yours to shame,"  
Lina laughed, "You think my Dragon Slave is my most powerful spell? Ha, I know of a spell a hundred time more powerful,"  
Ranma paused for a moment, a bit surprised, "Y-you do?"  
He did remember the Dragon Slave being a very powerful spell. Although his seppukku blasts would dwarf the Dragon Slave, the Dragon Slave was still nothing to shake a stick at. And Lina knows of a spell a hundred times greater? She smiled when she noticed Ranma's surprise, "Yes, I do,"  
"Whatever," he shrugged, "It doesn't really matter. It's not like we're ever gonna see it. There would be no reason to use it. This is a peaceful world,"  
She laughed, "What makes you think I would use this only something was threatening world peace? I'm tempted to use it just to show you that what I'm capable of is nothing to be taken lightly,"  
He said, "Well don't,"  
She narrowed her eyes, not liking to be told what or what not to do.  
"This isn't an ego thing, Lina," Ranma said seriously, "I don't wantcha thinking that you have something to prove because your fireball didn't hurt me like it used to. It's not worth it,"  
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Well, it may not bother you, but it bothers me,"  
"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked.  
"I want you to acknowledge that what I'm capable of isn't to be taken lightly," she said without wavering.  
He shrugged and said, "All right, fine. Your magic makes me wanna cry out for my mommy. You are the greatest magic user I have ever been honored enough to have been attacked by. Your magic is superior to the dinky ki-tricks that I know. There, ya happy?"  
"Not that kinda acknowledgement!" Lina spat angrily, "You're making it as if it were a joke. I want you to truly acknowledge my capabilities,"  
He sighed, "So what the heck do ya want me to do?"  
Lina was silent for several long minutes before said said, "I know. I challenge you,"  
"Challenge me? To what?"  
"To see who is more powerful," she said.  
"Huh? I think you lost me," he said, scratching the back of his head.  
"Let's call it a friendly battle," she smirked, "The person capable of conjuring the most powerful fireball wins,"  
"Wins? Wins what?" he asked, "There's nothing to prove. I don't wanna battle you,"  
"Are you afraid?" she asked, still smirking.  
"Yeah, I so deathly afraid I'm not gonna bother even accepting your challenge," he said nonchalantly.  
Lina sneered, "That's not what you were supposed to say!"  
He shook his head, "Man, this is not my day,"  
"How about this?" Lina said, figuring Ranma needed more motivation before he accepted the challenge, "If you win, I'll help you fix the wall. If I win, I don't hafta help you fix the wall,"  
Ranma smirked, leaning forward so that his face was close to hers as he said, "How about this? You help me fix or I'll send you back home? How does that sound? That sounds much better, ne?"  
Lina's mouth became a thin line.  
He continued to smiled, "I guess we have ourselves a deal. We'll leave to get the sheetrock in half an hour,"  
Ranma left the room.  
"Hi there," a woman approached Ranma. Ranma was by himself, Lina having gone off to find a large cart so that he could put the sheetrock in. Ranma and a reluctant Lina had gone to a nearby hardware store to buy the sheetrock. The hardward store wasn't much of a hardward store at all. It looked more like a gigantic warehouse that seemed to sell just about everything. The name of the place was Mega Depot, a derivative of Home Depot, a franchise usually found overseas.  
Ranma had been standing in a long isle that displayed various jacuzzis when a tall and leggy blonde had approached him, causing him to start.  
Ranma looked behind him, figuringing the beautiful woman was talking to someone else. When he noticed no one around, he asked, "You talking to me?"  
The woman smiled, "Of course,"  
"Oh," he said. He gave a smile and said, "Hello yourself,"  
"You planning on buying one for yourself?" she asked, noticing all the jacuzzis on display in the isle that expanded in front and behind her. The one that Ranma had been looking at looked to be worth more than her yearly salary as a nurse.  
Ranma shrugged, "I dunno. Perhaps. This thing looks a bit heavy,"  
She smiled, "It should. It's made of marble,"  
He scratched his chin, talking to himself, "Hm, it's probably gotta be around four thousand pounds. I don't really wanna carry this all the way back home. That's a good two miles away,"  
"You could always have them deliver it right to your doorstep," the woman commented.  
"Maybe I should," he said.  
"By the way, my name is Nase Ayunawa," the woman said, bowing, figuring this was a good time to introduce herself.  
"Hi, I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome," he said, bowing politely before ignoring her and turning back toward the display.  
At that point in time, approached the two of them, wheeling a large cart that was most like used to transport large sheets of wood or sheetrock. It seemed to have a faulty wheel and squeaked quite loudly.  
When Lina noticed the beatufly woman standing next to Ranma, she found herself getting angry for some reason.  
Ranma smiled at Lina, "All right, Lina. Good job. Let's be on our way. The isle with what we need is just down this isle and to the right,"  
He turned toward the woman, "Well, it was nice talking to you. See you around,"  
Without giving her any time to say anything else, Ranma was wheeling the cart toward his destination. Lina had stood where she was for a short moment, a bit surprised that he had so easily brushed the woman off. She had actually been half expecting Ranma to tell her to wheel the cart on ahead without him while he continued talking to this woman.  
"See ya," Lina smirked at the surprised woman before quickly following after Ranma. When she caught up to him, she walked quietly by his side, stealing glances at him, wondering what his reaction toward that woman was. Did he find that woman attractive? He he approached her? Had she approached him?  
"Um," Lina started.  
"Hm?" Ranma asked, still glancing around toward all the items on display. He and Lina were now walking through the 'Tools' isles.  
"D-do you know that woman?" Lina dared to ask. It was most likely. Ranma seemed to know quite a bit of beautiful females on this world for some reason. She found that rather bothersome and annoying and almost frustrating.  
He turned toward her, "Who? You mean that woman back there?"  
Lina nodded.  
He shook his head, "Nope. Never seen here before,"  
"Oh, I was just curious," Lina smiled, looking straight ahead, letting a breath out in relief.  
Ranma glanced toward Lina when she wasn't looking. His eyebrows creased slightly. He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it and shut it.  
Silently, he continued on, Lina walking by his side.

new stuff 7/30

Ranma smiled as he waited for a large truck pull up in front of the house.  
"Man, I can't wait till that jacuzzi is here," he grinned. Akane was outside standing next to him.  
"J-jacuzzi? Y-you bought a jacuzzi?" Akane's eyes widened.  
"Yeah, y'know...for those 'lonely' nights," he said.  
Akane punched him in the face, "Baka!"  
He was totally unaffected by the attack, not even a bruise left behind from a punch that could otherwise knock a normal person's head off.  
He narrowed his eyes at her, "That was uncalled for,"  
"Hmph," Akane muttered.  
"Can I tell ya something?" he asked.  
"Sure, what is it?" she replied. Ranma paused for a moment, wondering how to say the words. He chose to be blunt and said, "I think Lina has a crush on me,"  
Akane was silent for a minute before she gave a weak laugh and said, "Don't flatter yourself. Just curious...why do you b-believe this? Was it something she said?"  
He scratched the back of his head, "Not something she said. She got really jealous before, when I was talking to this woman I met at the store,"  
"Who? What woman?" Akane asked, finding herself getting a bit angry. She had been meaning to go with Ranma to the store to help him buy the sheetrock but had chosen against it at the last minute.  
He gave Akane an odd look, "Strangely enough, she started getting angry much like the way you're getting angry...and for no apparent reason,"  
Akane blushed a bit, "Me? Angry? I'm not angry!"  
He shrugged, "Whatever. Also, I dunno why, but Lina wants to have a contest against me. It's like she wants to prove that she can use magic better than I can use ki and that her magic is better than my ki,"  
"What about it?"  
He sighed, "Exactly. I don't understand what she wants to prove,"  
Akane said softly, "Well, I guess I know of a reason,"  
He turned toward her, "Oh? And what might that be?"  
"Lina talked to me a short while ago," Akane began, "She mentioned about how she hit you in the face with a fireball and how you brushed it off like it was nothing,"  
"Yeah, so? What about it?"  
"I think that is what's got her worried," Akane replied, "I guess you were on equal footing when you first met but as time passed, it seems to her that you have grown more powerful than her,"  
"So what? Even if I am, which we don't know for sure, it's not like I'm rubbing it in," he said, still seemed confused. It gave Akane a warm sensation in her heart. He had changed so much over the years.  
"So what did you say to her?" Akane asked curiously.  
"Well, when she wanted to have a lil contest, I declined and that was it," he said, "I have nothing to prove and I see no reason in her wanting to prove anything either,"  
She shrugged, "Why not find out who is more powerful? Wouldn't it be kinda fun?"  
"What, you want me to have a contest against her? Why?" he asked She gave a rather meek smile and said, "Well, it has been a while,"  
"What does that hafta do with it? I don't understand whatcha mean?" he seemed confused again.  
"Well, I am rather curious as to how much you have progressed since the last time I saw you," she said, "Remember that night you and Emiko and Lina came back to this world? Well, when you first came back, and when Ryoga had hit you, you were basically totally unaffected by it. Heck, the attack didn't even leave a mark,"  
"Yeah, so?"  
Akane sighed, "You don't get it do you? Since the last time any of us had seen you, you would have at least had gotten a bruise from a punch like that one Ryoga had given you. Also, I remember that day when Herb and Saffron brought you back home unconscious after you flew somewhere over the pacific ocean to display what each other is capable of. Saffron and Herb are really powerful individuals and they easily acknowledged that you were much more powerful than them,"  
Ranma smirked a bit, "Really?"  
"I see nothing wrong in a little contest," Akane smiled, "It's just unfortunate that Ryoga isn't around. I kinda wonder where he stands in terms of powerlevels. You and he were basically neck to neck ever we came back to Japan after we had 'supposedly' died when you and he used your seppukku blast to destroy Genom's main computer underground,"  
"Gee, you do have a point," he nodded, "It would be nice to see how much more powerful Ryouga had gotten over the years. He said he had been away for five years even though only around three had passed on this world. All that time, he must had been training like heck. I wonder what happened to Ryoga,"  
"Did someone call my name?" Ryoga came walking around a corner.  
Ranma and Akane both fell over from the sudden shock of him just appearing that that moment. Ranma quickly recovered and got back to his feet.  
"Ryoga, where have you been?" Ranma asked.  
"Huh?" Ryoga scratched his head, "I've been in the house the entire time. Where have you been?"  
Ranma blinked several times, "What? Y-you've been here all this time?"  
He nodded, "Yeah, I've been downstairs in the basement for most of the time,"  
Ranma turned toward Akane, "W-we have a basement in the house?"  
Akane shook her head, "No, we don't,"  
Ryouga scratched his head, "Hm, then whose basement have I been in for all this time?"  
Ranma and Akane looked at each other. Ranma turned back toward Ryoga and sighed, shaking his head, "Whatever. I'm not gonna even ask,"  
"So what have I missed?" Ryoga asked.  
"I dunno, perhaps a thing called 'Angel Wars'?" Ranma said sarcastically.  
"Not that, since the other night when you showed up," he asked.  
Ranma shrugged, "Nothing much,"  
Akane chose the time to interrupt and asked, "Say, it's been quite a while. I was wondering, why won't you and Ranma have a little contest to see who is more powerful?" She wanted to ask that before Ryoga disappeared once again.  
Ryoga and Ranma smirked at each other.  
"Well, what do you say?" Ranma asked, wryly.  
"Sure, why not?" Ryoga said, a bit disinterested, as if he was more than confident of how powerful he was. That made Ranma a bit angry. "Fine, all right," Ranma said, "Let's do it. Let's have a contest tomorrow,"  
"Where?" Ryoga asked.  
Ranma smiled, "Over the pacific ocean,"  
Ryoga said, "All right,"  
"Um, exactly how do you expect Ryoga to get there?" Akane asked, "It's not like he could fly or anything,"  
Ryoga smiled slightly, "Um, well..."  
Ranma smirked at Ryoga, "You can fly, too?"  
"Too?" Ryoga turned toward Ranma, "Wait, you can fly also?"  
Akane stepped between the two of them, "Waitaminute. Hold up. What the heck is going on?"  
She turned toward Ryoga, "Ryoga, you can fly also?"  
Ryoga gave a meek smile, "Yeah, more or less. It has to do with using ki to keep me in the air. It is much like what Herb used to do,"  
"Man, you hafta tell me where you've been all this time," Ranma said, "What kinda world have you been on?"  
Ryoga scratched his head, "I don't really know what kinda world. It had this guy that had hair that defied gravity, this guy with no nose, and this green guy with pointy ears,"  
"It sounds like you were somewhere like New York, not some other world," Ranma commented.  
Ryoga shrugged, "I dunno. For all I know, I could have been,"  
Akane regarded Ryoga, "One of these days, we are all going to sit down and really find out where you've been. You just come and go. Sometimes, it's scary,"  
"I don't mean to scare you, A-Akane," Ryoga said apologetically. He then turned at Ranma, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow,"  
Ryoga walked off in a random direction, rounding a corner.  
"Hey, why are just standing there," Akane told Ranma, "Go after him. If he disappears again, there's no telling when we will ever see him again,"  
Ranma laughed, "It's already too late. He is just rounded that corner. You know full well that once he goes arounds a corner, he disappears to only God knows where,"  
Akane ran up ahead and rounded the corner, expecting to at see Ryoga. To her surprise, he was no longer there. All that she was was a lone truck heading down the street in her direction. It was the truck that carried the jacuzzi.  
Ranma walked up to her, a grin on his lips.  
"Told ya, didn't I? Once you lose sight of him, he disappears,"  
Lina's eyes were wide as she watched as Ranma carefully walked around the side of the house toward the backyard while carrying the extremely heavy jacuzzi. No one else was around, Emiko and Shinji praticing in the dojo, everyone else having gone back out on the town, Akane having gone out looking for Ryoga.  
"Isn't that a bit heavy?" Lina asked Ranma. She knew of a spell that would make it much easier for Ranma. She just wanted him to ask though.  
"I'm fine," Ranma said without much effort, despite carrying around four thousand pounds of weight in his arms. He wasn't even straining to hold that much weight.  
When Ranma made it to the hole in the side of the house, he carefully placed the jacuzzi down on the ground and entered the house through it. Once inside, he walked up to the bathtub, Lina following him in.  
"What are you going to do with that tub?" she asked.  
"I'm gonna take it out," he replied.  
Lina watched as Ranma disconnected the water main to the tub and then literally rip the tub off the floor with his bare hands. It only took Ranma about ten minutes to clear the bathroom of the bathtub.  
"You work fast," Lina couldn't help but comment.  
He smiled, "Thanks,"  
It wasn't more than a half hour before Ranma had the jacuzzing inside the bathroom and placed securely in place and the water pipes connected to it.  
"Talk about convienient, huh? The water pips are the exact match for this jacuzzi as it was for that bathtub," he smiled.  
Before long, the jacuzzi had been installed and Ranma was ready to close up the hole in the wall. He exited the bathroom, entering again carrying a toolbox he had bought while at the store. He placed it down on the side rim of the jacuzzi and produced the tape measure.  
Lina watched as Ranma proceeded to measure the width of the hole.  
"Why'd you hafta do that?" she asked curiously.  
"I'm measuring this so I'll know how wide to cut the sheetrock," he said, "I can't simply dab on a bit of spackle and shove the sheetrock over the hole. It would look ugly as hell because there'll be an outline of the sheetrock jutting out on the wall,"  
"Oh," she said, feeling a bit dumb.  
He pointed toward the pencil by the sink, "Can you please get me the pencil?"  
Lina did as she was told. When she noticed him putting marks on the sheetrock, she was about to ask him what that was for but he answered before she could ask.  
"This just marks where I'll be making the cut," he said, "Can you please hand me the box cutter razor?"  
She picked up this odd looking metallic object with a very sharp blade at one end, "This?"  
He nodded and took hold of the oject. He quickly went about measuring the height and marking the sheetrock and then cutting it. Once he was done, he smiled, "Well, the patch work is done. All I have left to do is to reinforce the wall by putting up some beams to support the sheetrock,"  
Lina watched as Ranma proceeded to put up support beams rising from the bottom of the hole all the way to the very top, putting several horizontal beams intermittently to keep the vertical beams parallel to one another.  
She continued to quietly watch him do this. When she noticed that she wasn't actually doing much in terms of helping him, she noticed that she started feeling a bit awkward around him, as if she were in his way. She figured that she might as well have a conversation.  
"Is there a reason why you wouldn't challenge me?" she asked from out of the blue.  
Ranma turned toward her, "Actually, about that. It seems that Ryoga has come back and the two of us are gonna have a contest to see who is more powerful. You are welcome to join. It'd kinda be a three-way contest,"  
Lina smirked, "Really?"  
He nodded, "Yeah,"  
"What's with the sudden change?"  
"Like I said before, Ryoga has come back and the two of us are gonna have a contest to see who is more powerful," he repeated.  
She glared at him, "I know that. You don't hafta tell me more than once. It's just that you seemed hell-bent on not finding out which one outta the two of us is the more powerful one yet you're willing to do so for Ryoga,"  
Ranma laughed, "Oh, that's easy. It's because you're a girl,"  
"W-what?" Lina asked, one of her eyes twitching.  
"It's because you're a girl," he said, "Since Ryoga is a guy, I hafta take him seriously,"  
"What?" Lina shouted, "That's why you wouldn't accept my challenge? Because I'm a girl?" She twitched a bit more, "T-t-tellme I-I didn't h-hear that correctly,"  
He shrugged, "Sorry. That's one of the main reasons,"  
"Why you!"  
Ranma quickly said, "Don't even think about it. It's because of your fireball that we hafta fix this hole in the wall in the first place,"  
"And it's because of you being such a jerk that made me shoot you with a fireball...like now!" Lina snapped.  
She shot another fireball at Ranma, even more massive than the previous one.

A charred Ranma stared at the huge gaping hole in the wall. Lina's fireball had not only blow a how right throught he hole he had just sealed up, but it had also destroyed a good portion of the jacuzzi. He turned toward Lina, really angry, "What the hell didja do that for?"  
"Because you were a jerk!" Lina retorted in anger.  
Ranma looked like he was going to rip his hair out, "Lina, dontcha see that it's useless throwing fireballs at me? It doesn't hurt me at all! The only thing you're succeeding in doing is causing damage to my house!"  
"Serves you right," Lina smirked.  
He narrowed his eyes, "All right. That's it,"  
Lina gulped, a bit scared.  
Ranma grabbed her with both hands and picked her up, holding her in a way so that she was under one of his arms and he headed out of the bathroom through the hole. It was easier to walk around the house so Lina wouldn't have any walls or doorways to grab onto. He passed Emiko and Shinji as they were on their way out from a good workout in the dojo.  
"What's going on?" Shinji asked, noticing Lina struggling to free herself from under Ranma's hold.  
"I'm taking her home," Ranma said seriously, "My nanban mirror is up in my room. I'm gonna go get it and take her home right now,"  
"Lettgo of me!" Lina struggled. She found herself really scared that Ranma wasn't joking this time, that it was for real, that he was going to send her home. Perhaps what she had done had been a little extreme.  
"Have a nice trip," Emiko grinned at Lina, waving as Ranma headed up the stairs.  
As Lina found herself still struggling to free herself and Ranma proceeding to rummage through his dresser for the nanban mirror, she started realizing that she really didn't want to go back home, at least not anytime soon.  
"It won't happen again," Lina said, her voice actually sounding as if it were pleading, "I really don't wanna go back,"  
Ranma said, "Ha, that ain't gonna work on me. Try that guilt trip on someone else. It might actually work on someone that have never dealt with you before, but definitely won't on me,"  
"Y-you're hurting me," Lina said meekly, "Y-you're holding me too tightly,"  
Ranma quickly released his hold of her, Lina falling down and onto his bed.  
Before Ranma had a chance to realize that she had fooled him, Lina quickly got to her feet and ran right out of his room. He simply stood there for several moment, wondering what had just happened before finally realizing he hadn't been holdign her too tightly and that she had just duped him.  
"Hey!" he said, grabbing the mirror and heading out of the room.

"Lina, where the heck are ya?" Lina heard Ranma's voice.  
Lina didn't like the predicament she was in. She was hiding on the otherside of the outterwall that surrounded the house as Ranma proceeded to walk around the backyard looking for her.  
"You're going back," he said in an almost cold voice, "I've had enough,"  
Lina didn't believe Ranma was telling the truth, that he was going to send her back home, but she did have her doubts. He was very unpredictable. There was a chance that he would send her back if he caught her again. She had caused him quite a lot of trouble since she had come with him to this world, and there was no reason that Ranma should even feel obligated to let her stay. She had dogged him every step of the way ever since they have met. As Lina leaned against the wall and continued to ponder what her next plan was, she was caught by surprise when she looked up and saw Ranma's head peeking over the top of the wall and looking down at her.  
"Found ya," he smirked. He reached over the wall in an attempt to grab her.  
Lina had managed to react just quick enough to duck down, Ranma's hand swiping at air. Because Ranma hadn't expected Lina to react quick enough, he had committed himself to the attempt grab too much. He ended up flipping forward and over the wall, falling flat on his back where Lina had been once standing.  
He continued to lay on his back as he watched Lina diappear around the corner.  
He laughed a bit as he got back to his feet, dusting the dirt from his clothes. For some reason, although he was angry at Lina for all the trouble she had caused him, he found it rather fun trying to catch her. She was actually really good at slipping away.

New stuff...8/12

Lina cautiously walked around the outter corner of the house, wondering what she was going to do. Ranma seemed to have it in for her and was going to take her back home. She had managed to avoid him as well as Emiko for over an hour.  
She didn't get a chance to dwell on the thought for long before she screamed aloud when she felt a hand wrap around her ankle.  
She tried to make a run for it but fell forward due to the hand's tight grip. She looked toward her ankle and noticed Ranma crawling out from underneath the porch of the house.  
"Gotcha!" Ranma had a smirk on his face as he rose tohis full stature, hositing Lina up in the air so that she was danggling upside down by one leg. Lina screamed at the top of her lungs for Ranma to release her. "Don't even think about shooting a fireball at me to get me to release ya. Not only will I not let go, but I will send you back home stark naked and drop you off in the middle of some busy town," he smirked. Lina, whom had been just about to shoot a fireball at Ranma, had second thoughts. He cleared his throat and said, "Gimme one reason why I should letcha stay?" He started noticing that he was holding Lina upside down for a bit longer than he was supposed to. Her face was becoming a bit flushed from the blood travelling down mostly to her head.  
"Um," Lina tried to think of something.  
Ranma used his other hand to grab hold of one of Lina's hand before releasing his hold on her ankle, allowing her land gently on her feet. At first, Lina thought about making another run for it but she realized it was futile. There was no way she could get away from Ranma if he didn't want her to. Ranma smirked, "I've got an idea, how about you earn your stay?"  
Lina gave hima confused look.  
"Me and Ryoga are gonna have a contest," he said.  
"What kinda contest?"  
"To see who is more powerful," he replied, "He and I have been on equal footing basically all our lives and it's been a while since we last seen each other. We basically wanna see how much more powerful we've gotten since we last met,"  
"What does that have to do with me?" she asked.  
"We can kill two birds with one stone," he said, "You can satisfy your weird curiousity on if you really are more powerful than myself and also earn your keep to stay here,"  
Lina thought about it for a moment. She didn't really know how powerful Ranma's friend, Ryoga, was, but she was confident that her dragon slave spell was more than enough, but even if it weren't, she had her trump card, her Giga Slave. She would not lose the contest.  
Ranma leaned toward her, his face coming in close to hers, "Are you up to it? Do you think you've got what it takes to be both me and Ryoga?"  
Lina smiled confidently, "Yes, I do. You've never seen what I am capable of. Sure, I've shown you my Dragon Slave spell before, but I can cast one much much more powerful and I even have a trump card if that were to fail,"  
Ranma smiled, "That's good to hear,"  
"When and where?"  
"Ryoga and I have decided to hold the contest over the ocean tomorrow," he said, "I dunno when we'll do it tomorrow, but it'll probably be sometime in the afternoon,"  
He turned around and left before Lina had a chance to say anything nor see the color drain from her face as she realized she had already lost the contest before it had even started.  
"I can't cast a spell and fly at the same time..."

Everyone went out to dinner together. Although everyone had come in from different parts of the country, they had gone their own way to explore the town shortly after arriving, only to meet back at Ranma's house later that night. Madigan and Carper have gone out to the amusment park with Jun due to her constant insistance. They brought Yuika with them.  
It was around eight in the evening as everyone was gathered around a large circular table in a fancy and expensive restaurant. They already had their meals in front of them and were enjoying one another's company.  
"So, where did you guys go?" Ranma asked none of the adult females in particular.  
"I went shopping for some panties. Would you care to take a peek?" Misato smirked, "I'm wearing one of them right now,"  
Shinji spit out the water he had been drinking and quickly reached forward the napkin to wipe his mouth.  
"Misato, not in front of the children!" Akane scolded the sultry purple-haired woman, "Look what you made Shinji do!"  
"Akane to the motherly rescue," Misato said with a wave of the hand, all the while grinning to show that she was only teasing.  
Ranma ignored Misato and turned toward Sylia, "How 'bout you, Sylia? How was your day?"  
Sylia blushed slightly, "My day was fine. I took a stroll around in the park. It's nice being able to simply have a quite walk once in a while,"  
Priss sighed, "I wish I could do something like that. I can't walk around anywhere without someone coming up to me and asking for my autograph," She had just signed an autograph about five minutes ago and she knew she would probably be signing yet another in another minute or so.  
Shinji smiled slightly, "Can I tell you something?"  
"What is it?" Priss turned toward him.  
"Um, I think it's really cool knowing someone like you," he managed to say, "I've got a lotta friends that think you're the best and when I tell them that I actually know you, they think I'm lying,"  
Priss smirked, "Really? What would you like me to do? Would you like me to show up at your school to pick you up on my motorcycle or something?"  
"R-really? Y-y-you'd do that?" he said, his eyes wide.  
"Just make sure you don't pop a woody while on the bike with her since your you know what will be rubbing against her back," Misato commented with a laugh.  
Ranma glanced at Misato, "Man, aren't we a bit free-spirited today?"  
Shinji blushed, "M-Misato-san..."  
Priss made an odd face as she never knew something like that could happen if she had a man riding on the bike with her. "Let's change the subject. Have any of you guys seen Ryoga?" Nene asked from out of the blue.  
Ranma shrugged, "Yeah, I saw him earlier. He only showed up for a little while before disappearing again,"  
"Does anyone know where he's been all this time?" Linna asked, taking a bit of her salad.  
"I think so," Ranma replied, "I think he was overseas in the United States,"  
"Oh? How do you know?" Ritsuko asked.  
"In New York from what I believe," Ranma continued, "Ryoga said he was in a place where there was a green guy with pointy ears, a guy with no nose, and a guy with hair that seemed to defy gravity,"  
Ritsuko nodded, "Hm, that sounds like the people you would find in New York,"  
Lina, already finished with her huge steak, asked, "What kinda place is this so-called New York?"  
"Dunno, never been there," Ranma said.  
"I have," Priss answered, "I was there about ten days ago. I was on tour. The people there are definitely...unique,"  
"Speaking of your tour, what are you going to do about it?" Lisa asked, quiet until now, "Weren't you in the middle of a tour when you found out Ranma was back?"  
Priss laughed, "Yeah, I was. It's probably gonna piss a lotta people off, but I feel I'm entitled to a bit of time off every here and there. I don't wanna sound arrogant or anything, but I think I'm plenty successful in the music industry and my fans and promoters are willing to let me be whimsical from time to time,"  
Akane turned toward Ranma, "So, Ranma, do you think Ryoga will show up in time for the contest?"  
"Contest? What contest?" Emiko asked. She liked contests, especially one where she could prove how skillful she was.  
Akane jerked a thumb toward Ranma, "Well, Ranma and that person you saw on the night you guys arrived, Ryoga, are going to have a contest to see who is more powerful,"  
"We wanna see how powerful we had become since we last saw each other," Ranma commented.  
"Sounds like you guys just wanna see who have the bigger set of balls," Misato commented with a grin.  
"That's true. I wanna see if my ki-blast is bigger than his," Ranma nodded.  
Misato sighed, "Not those kinda balls. Man, nevermind,"  
"Who do you think will win?" Shinji asked.  
"I will," Ranma said confidently, "I ain't gonna lose to someone like Ryoga, that's for sure,"  
"Man, do you have some hole cut in your pocket?" Priss smirked.  
"Hole in my pocket? What do ya mean?" Ranma asked in curiosity.  
"Because you seem to feel pretty cocky today," she finished.  
The group of females burst out in laughter as Ranma and Shinji looked at each other in confusion.  
"That was a good one, Priss," Linna laughed, "A hole in his pocket. Feeling cocky. I've gotta remember that," Ranma's eyes narrowed as he finally understood the joke, "Hey,"  
He smirked and jerked a thumb toward Lina, "Of course, I'm probably gonna hafta work at it since she's gonna be joining us too,"  
Everyone turned toward Lina, "You are?"  
Lina gave a meek laugh, "Um, well, yeah,"  
"When and where?" Emiko asked.  
"Over the ocean sometime tomorrow," he answered her.  
Emiko narrowed her eyes, "Waitaminute, how will Lina here be able to participate? If she were to fly over the ocean, she wouldn't be able to cast a spell since she is already using one to fly in the first place,"  
Lina narrowed her eyes also.  
Emiko shrugged, "Hey, just because I don't use it doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. It's one of the weaknesses about being a magic-user,"  
Ranma looked at Lina, "You can't cast two spells at once?" He scratched his chin, "Then again, I do recall never seeing you use two spells at once and Luna mentioning something about it,"  
Lina gave a meek smile, "It's only a minor setback. I'll think of something,"  
"Hey," Ranma said, "Why not go talk to your sister?"  
"Why?"  
"I remember her talking to me about her spellbook," he commented, "She came up with a way to cast a spell upon yourself so that you can simultaneously at once. If I recall correctly though, she said something about how you can't cast two overly powerful spells at once,"  
"I would only need to be able to cast Ray Wing, which'll help make me levitate, and whatever spell deemed necessary to beat your most powerful blast," Lina commented.  
Ranma smiled, "All right, then it's settled, we'll go talk to your sister. We will leave tonight,"  
"What? We are?" Lina's eyes becamse wide.  
He smiled, "Yeah, why not. It'd be more than a good enough reason to go see her again,"  
The other females narrowed their eyes at him.  
"Who's this Luna you're talking about?" they asked in unison, a menacing tone in their voices.  
"Is she pretty?"  
"What's your relationship with her?"  
"How did you two meet?"  
Those were some of the questions asked in unison that Ranma had to ignore.

Ranma was walking around the house sometime in the middle of the night. Mostly everyone staying at his house had gone to sleep in their respective rooms. As he headed into the kitchen for a midnight snack, he was surprised to see that someone was already in there grabbing a midnight snack for herself.  
It was Asuka. She was clad in tight shorts that hugged her curves way too tightly and a loosefitting sleeveless blouse that revealed the side of her breasts from the open sleeves. It didn't help matters any more when she was bent over leaning forward and digging into the back of the fridge.  
Ranma whistled, "Nice butt,"  
Asuka was started and ended up bumping the back of her head as she quickly backed up and stood up to face him. The cold air coming from the fridge didn't help one bit in hiding the heat flooding her face.  
"I was only jokin'," Ranma said as he walked past her and looked in the fridge for some food for himself.  
Asuka glared at him, "And what makes you think I actually believed you?"  
"What, you believe you don't have a nice butt?" he asked curiously, "That's a shame because you really do,"  
She blushed some more.  
"Of course, since I'm only joking around..." he grinned.  
"Ranma," Asuka sneered at him. She manged to control her temper and said, "So, are you excited about tomorrow?"  
"Tomorrow? What about it?" Asuka sighed, "The contest. Y'know, the contest between you and Ryoga and Lina?"  
"Oh, that," he said. He shrugged, "Naw, I'm not all that excited. Knowing Ryoga, he's probably not even gonna show up so it'll only be me and Lina,"  
"Um, are you going to that other world?" she asked.  
He nodded, "Yeah, I'm gonna go see Luna. She's Lina's older sister. It'll be kinda unfair in testing Lina if she can't cast any spells since she can't fly and cast a spell at once,"  
"Um, is it all right if I come with you?" she asked.  
He shrugged, "Don't see why not,"  
Asuka smiled. She had been nervous about asking him for most of the night, and when she did, she couldn't believe how easy it had been. Ranma was so easy to talk to. Why did she always get nervous around him?  
"I'm pretty sure everyone else is gonna wanna come also," he scratched his chin.  
Asuka's lips became a thin line.  
"Hm, I guess I better not have anyone come along. It'd get really troublesome. All I need to do is find out how someone could cast two spells at once," he said, "Heck, I don't even need Lina to come along. I could simply go there, meet Luna, find out about casting two spells, and then come right back,"  
Ranma left the kitchen, "Thanks for the talk. I guess there's no need for you to come along. G'night,"  
Asuka just stood there in silence.

Ranma awoke early in the morning, well before sunrise. He quietly rummaged through his drawer for the nanban mirror with the designated children slept peacefully in his room.  
As he headed outside into the backyard where he was about leave for the other world, he was stopped when two arms wrapped around him from behind, a face burying deeply against this back.  
"Don't go!" Asuka said sadly.  
Ranma gently broke his hold and turned to face her, "There's nothing to worry about. I won't be gone long. I'm just going there to find out some information and'll be right,"  
"But-" she began.  
Ranma regarded her with soft caring eyes, "There's nothing to worry about. Everything'll be fine. I'll be back soon enough,"  
Asuka looked down toward the floor. She was having a hard time conveying her words.  
Luckily, Ranma was able to sense Asuka unsaid words. She didn't want him to leave her again, but if he did, she wanted to at least come along. She looked like she hadn't slept yet.  
He was still a bit surprised at just how much his disappearance seemed to have affected Asuka. She seemed to be perfectly fine when he was around or at least knew that he was around, but when there was a chance that he was going away, she seemed to turn into a wreck.  
He asked, "Do you really wanna come along?"  
Asuka nodded, barely managing to conceal her reflief.  
He sighed, "All right, fine. You can come along,"  
"Thank you!" Asuka shouted in joy, jumping up and latching onto Ranma. The sudden movement causing Ranma to lose balace and stumble backwards onto his back, Asuka landing on top of him.  
Ranma and Asuka stared into each other's eyes for a several breathless moments before Ranma smirked and said, "This ain't no soap opera. A kiss ain't called for like it probably is in them there soaps. So if ya don't mind,"  
Asuka embarrassedly got up and off Ranma, helping him to his feet.  
They were dusting themselves off, just as Lina yawned as she headed toward the kitchen to mooch off an early morning snack.  
"What are you two up so early in the morning?" she asked, the site of Asuka and Ranma standing so close to each other making her become suddenly awake.  
Ranma said, "Well, I'm on my way back to the other world to talk to your sister. That way, I can find out how you can cast two spells simultaneously-"  
"Y-you're going t-to see my sister?" Lina was shocked, jealousy taking over, "W-why?"  
"Like I said before, I'm going to the other world to get some information," he repeated, "Besides, I promised to go see your sister when I get the chance and now is a good enough time as any,"  
Lina was silent as Asuka looked back and forth between her and Ranma. There seemed to be something neither Ranma nor Lina was letting on.  
"Hum, what kinda person is Lina's sister?" she asked.  
Ranma smiled, more to himself than anyone else, as he said, "Well, she's a really sweet person right off the bat. She, unlike every other female I know, seem to be really open-minded enough to believe that there are two sides to a situation and never jumps to conclusions,"  
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Asuka found herself getting angry as well as jealous toward this unknown female, "What makes you think we jump to conclusion?"  
"Then why are ya getting mad for no reason?" he smirked.  
Asuka bit her lip.  
"Well, since you're going back, then I'm gonna come with you," Lina proclaimed, "I'd like to let my sister know that I'm doing fine,"  
"Don't worry, I'll tell her for you," he said, "Besides, I don't want a lotta people coming along because it'll probably only cause difficulties. Besides, Asuka here already asked first,"  
"You don't want a lotta people coming along because you want to be alone with my sister, huh?" Lina smirked, hoping to embarrass the truth out of him.  
Ranma scracthed the back of his head, "Gee, I've never really thought about that, but I guess that an even better reason. I just didn't want people going their separate way because I only planned on staying there a short while and didn't wanna go looking for everyone when the time came for me to come back,"  
Lina gulped. That wasn't supposed to turn out that way.  
He sighed, "But I guess I can't have it that way since I already promised to let Asuka here come along,"  
"If she's going along, then I want to come along," Lina said emphatically.  
Ranma smirked, "Hm, that doesn't sound all that bad an idea. I can leave you there while I'm at it. That way, I wouldn't even hafta worry about finding out how to cast two spells simultaneously and can simply visit your sister instead,"  
Lina was silent once again.  
"I won't let you," Asuka commented.  
Ranma chuckled, "Hm, maybe I should leave you here then now that I know of your intentions,"  
"You can't because you promised," Asuka smirked.  
"So? Who says I need to keep my promises?" he grinned, "I ain't some ideal good guy that obeys all the laws and keeps his promises,"  
"You may not obey all laws but you do keep promises," Asuka commented confidently.  
Ranma scratched his chin, "Hm, you do have a point there. I'm sure there's gotta've been a time when I didn't keep a promise,"  
When he noticed Ranma sleepily walking by the porch door and toward the kitchem, he called out to her.  
"Akane,"  
Akane yawned and looked out the door toward the backyard where she was surprised to see Ranma, Lina, and Asuka. She walked outside and greeted everyone, "Good morning. What's going on? Why're all of you out here?"  
"Ranma was about to leave for the other world," Asuka commented.  
Akane didn't show much surprise, "Yeah. And? It's not like he isn't going to be back," She turned toward Ranma and gave him a warm smile, "Have a nice trip,"  
"He's going there because he really wants to see Lina's sister," Asuka added.  
Akane narrowed her eyes toward Ranma, "Is that so? I thought you were going there to find out some information that would help Lina out,"  
He gave a meek smile, "Well, yeah, that's true,"  
"He made a promise to this woman on the other world that he would go back and see her," Asuka added even more.  
"Now this puts a whole new spin on things," Akane narrowed her eyes at Ranma, "From what I just heard, it seems you're using going back to the other world to get some information as an excuse to see this person,"  
Ranma said, "I guess you could say that,"  
He produced the nanban mirror from his pocket. He looked at Asuka and said, "Well, you ready to leave?"  
Asuka, not really knowing what to do, quickly ran forward to stand next to Ranma. Although she had wanted to stay and sort things out, she knew that there was a chance Ranma would leave without her. Afterall, he had never actually promised that he would take her along and it was only a matter of time before he realized this and no longer felt obligated to take her.  
"Well, you guys could just wait here and wonder what devious things I could be up to," Ranma grinned, placing a hand on Asuka's shoulder, "See ya later,"  
Ranma shed a tear onto the nanban mirror, a picture of the other world clear in his mind. However, just a fraction of a second before he and Asuka disappeared, Lina and Akane darted forward and grabbed hold of Ranma.  
"Hey, lettgo," was all that Ranma managed to say before he and Lina and Asuka, and Akane disappeared.

Ranma and the others appeared in a bright flash of light high over Luna Inverse's backyard. Luckily, it was somewhere around three in the morning when they arrived and no one had seen their arrival, everyone sleeping peacefully in their homes.  
Lina hovered to the ground through the use of her levitation spell, Ray Wing. Akane skillfully landed on her feet without disturbing the ground just as Ranma did the same, Asuka held in his arms. Asuka hadn't even had the time to shriek from the fall before she found herself safely in Ranma's arms as he landed.  
It didn't take long before Akane fist found its place in Ranma's face when she noticed Ranma holding onto Asuka tightly, "And just how long to you intend to hold onto her?"  
"Take a closer look, she's the one still holding onto me!" Ranma told Akane. His hands where on his hips.  
Asuka blushed as she quickly released her embrace and dropped to her feet. She had held on to him a bit longer than was supposed to. She should had let go shortly after they landed.  
Ranma rubbed his jaw, "Man, you gotta stop jumping to conclusions,"  
"Is this the house?" Akane ignored Ranma.  
He turned his attention on to the house and nodded, "Yeah, this is Luna's house," He pointed toward a window on the second floor near the corner of the house, "That's where Luna sleeps. That's her bedroom,"  
Ranma received three simultaneous fists in the face, one from Asuka, Lina, and Akane each.  
"And just why would you know where her bedroom is?" Lina said in a cold voice, her hands on her hips. She hid the fact that her hand actually stung from having hit Ranma so hard. It didn't help matters that Ranma seemed unaffected.  
Ranma leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at Lina, "Now why would you care? Are you jealous or somethin'?"  
He walked up to the side of the house, looking for a way to climb up to the second story window. He didn't want to knock, figuring Luna was asleep and not wanting to wake her. This way, he could peek in through the widow to see if she was asleep. If she was, then he would come back in thr morning.  
"Where are you going?" Asuka asked.  
"I'm gonna go peek in through the window," he said, climbing up the side of the house, "I'll be right back,"  
Lina turned toward Akane, "Um, how does he do that?"  
"Do what?" Akane asked.  
"Um, Ranma's climbing up the side of the house," she commented, "There's nothing for him to hold onto to climb up,"  
"Well, at least he's not walking up the wall like I've seen him do," Akane commented with a chuckle.  
Asuka stood near the side of the house, proceeding to jump in an attempt to grab onto Ranma's leg to pull him back down, Ranma already too far up for her attempts to succeed.  
"You pervert, get back down here," Asuka shouted up toward him.  
Ranma looked down and smirked, "Hey, there is nothing perverted about what I'm doing. I merely wanna find out if she's asleep or not,"  
Inside the house, Luna rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The sudden bright light that shone in through her window a minute ago had awoken her. Although she didn't really feel it was necessary to satisfy her curiousity to find out what had caused that light, the voices she could hear outside had gotten the better of her. Surely no one would be stupid enough to even consider sneaking into her house to rob something.  
She didn't feel all that worried though because if she was in any danger, her woman's intuition would be sounding its alarm right now.  
She yawned as she sat upright, the blankets falling down to her waist to reveal her rather loose fitting negligee. Her skin looked like creamy milk against the moonlight shining in through the open window.  
She got up off her bed and walked over toward the window, only stopping for a short moment to look at the full length mirror located the side of her bedroom. She had stopped when she noticed that the moonlight made her outfit almost transparent and that her sensuous curves could be easily seen through the thin fabric.  
Her attention quickly turned toward the window when she heard a voice.  
"Man, what's with you women and mirrors?" Ranma commented.  
Realizing the situation, that she was practically naked and there was a peeping tom getting an eyeful of her, Luna reacted in a fashion any female would react in if she found out someone was peeping on her.  
She shouted aloud, her shock very evident.  
Outside, the Lina looked at Akane, and said, "That doesn't sound good,"  
"I agree," Akane said.  
"This is bad," Asuka commented.  
The three girls were glancing up as Ranma held himself up by his figertips to the second story bedroom window when they saw his lips move as he was making a comment about something, that soon followed by a shriek.  
The three girls ducked for cover when a massive fireball erupted from the open window, Ranma barely managing to duck his head in time, and shooting forward and arcing up into the sky where it disappeared.  
They watched as Ranma poked his head back up and said, "Hey, whatcha do that for?"  
Another fireball shot out. This time, it hit Ranma square in the face. The girls watched as Ranma could be seen arching through the air and landing in the middle of the field of a backyard almost a hundred feet away. They quickly rushed to his side just as he was getting to his feet and dusting the dirt from his clothes.  
"It seems she was up, huh?" Akane smirked wryly.  
"Gee, you think?" he asked sarcastically. He noticed his clothes were singed and that he would most likely need to get them replaced.  
A fireball hit him in the chest and sent him flying a dozen meters, Ranma's coming to a sliding halt. From such a distance, it was amazing how accurate Luna's aim was.  
"Consider that your fee for peeping!" Luna called out toward the hapless peeping tom. She actually felt violated. Sure, it was kind of flattering but that was besides the point. Didn't that man know who she was? She was the omnipotent Luna Inverse.  
"Jeez," Ranma scratched the back of his head as he got back up to his feet, "That woman's got one heck of a fireball. It packs quite a punch,"  
From the distance of her house, Luna was pretty surprised when she noticed the silohuette of the peeping man getting back up to his feet. She was expecting him to have been knocked out. There was only one person that could withstand such punishment.  
"R-Ranma?" Luna shouted from her window, sounding hopeful, her heart in her throat, "I-is that you?"  
Ranma rubbed his chest and called out, "Yeah, it's me,"  
Luna's heart skipped a beat as she realized that it was him. Although she was positive she would had recognized his voice in the beginning, the situation had made things hard for her since she had been in a state of shock at that particular time.  
She snapped her finger and disappeared, reappearing right in front of Ranma, fully clothed. Her sudden appearance shocked Ranma and had caused him to fall backwards and onto his backside.  
"H-how'd you do that?" he said.  
Luna giggled and helped him to his feet, not even aware of the glares coming from Asuka and Akane and her sister. "It's been a while since we last saw each other," Luna commented.  
"It's only been a couple of days on my world," Ranma replied, "How long has it been over here?"  
"That's the same here but it was plenty long," she smiled warmly.  
Ranma narrowed his eyes, "Are those words supposed to have some kidna hidden meaning behind 'em?"  
She continued to smile, "That's open to your interpretation," She dusted the slight dirt on Ranma's shoulders, "I didn't hurt you with my fireball did I? I didn't know it was you,"  
He shook his head, "I'm fine. I guess it was my fault. Given the situation that played out, I guess I must've seemed like a peeping tom,"  
"More or less," Luna said.  
Lina cleared her throat. It looked like Ranma and Luna had forgotten about the surrounding world and had only been focusing on themselves and she didn't like it.  
Luna's eyes widened when she realized Lina was there.  
"Oh, you're back," Luna said happily. She gave her sister a quick embrace, "I didn't even realize you had come back with Ranma,"  
"Luna, I'd like you to meet Asuka and Akane," Ranma gestured toward the other two females, "They're two people that I live with on the other world. They're really good friends of mine. We've know each other for a while and've been through a lot,"  
"Nice to meet you," Luna said politely.  
Asuka and Akane greeted politely in return.  
"Please, let' go on inside where it's warmer," Luna said, "We can talk in the livingroom. I can make us some coffee or tea,"  
"Are you sure? We wouldn't wanna impose," Ranma said, "Dontcha have work in the morning?"  
Luna nodded, "Well, yeah, but I'm entitled to a day off every here and there. They won't mind,"  
Ranma and the others followed Luna into her home where they made themselves comfortable in front of the fireplace. Luna had snapped her fingers and the fire had suddenly appeared before she headed off toward the kitchen to make some coffee and tea.  
"I wonder how she did that," Lina commented, her gaze on the fire, "I wonder how she could just snap her fingers like that as opposed to casting a fire spell to get the fire going,"  
"I'm gonna go help Luna prepare the coffe and tea," Ranma got up off his seat.  
"Um, I'll go help her," Lina quickly shot up, "Y-you just stay where you are,"  
Before Ranma had a chance to protest, Lina quickly left the room for the kitchen. Ranma simply shrugged his shoulders and sat back down.  
Inside the kitchen, Luna was happily humming a tune to herself as she went about preparing some tea and coffee. "You seem to be enjoying youself," Lina commented as she entered the kitchen.  
Luna smiled, "I guess you could say that. You guys showing up tonight came as quite a pleasant surprise,"  
"Was it because of me or Ranma showing up?" Lina had to ask.  
"The both of you. Why do you ask?" Luna turned toward her younger sister.  
"Um, nothing," Lina said, blushing slightly. Perhaps she was just seeing things.  
"What's this? Is that the color of jealousy I see flooding your cheeks?" Luna smirked, leaning in close to Lina.  
"J-jealous? I-I am not!" Lina quickly retorted.  
Luna gave a slight laugh. She deicded it was best to change the subject since Lina seemed uncomfortable with it. She asked, "So, how do you like it on Ranma's world? Have you had any fun?"  
Lina was silent for several moments before she said, "Can I be honest? Promise you won't tease me?"  
"Of course not,"  
"Ranma's world is pretty different from this world," Lina said, "There are these things called trucks and airplanes and automobiles. They're basically machine driven transportation devices. The buildings are gigantic and dwarf even the heights of castles I've seen on this world,"  
Luna scratched her head, "What does this have to do with me wanting to tease you?"  
She said, "Um, Ranma seems to be friends with a lot of girls on his world. They all seem...seem to have a thing for him,"  
"I wouldn't be all that surprised," Luna shrugged, "He does seem like quite a catch,"  
Lina gave her sister and odd look. Luna didn't waver under Lina's stare. Instead, she gave a slight laugh, "What, you expected me not to notice?"  
"Anyway, I kinda...feel jealous that he knows so many females," Lina said, "And I don't even know why,"  
"It's easy, you have a crush on him," Luna shrugged, "There's no other reason,"  
"I do not!" Lina snapped, shooting Luna a wicked glance.  
"Whatever you say, Lina, whatever you say," Luna laughed warmly.  
Ranma entered the kitchen, "Hey, guys, whatcha talking about?"  
Lina gulped, wondering if Ranma had heard their conversation.  
Luna shrugged and smiled mischieviously, "Nothing much. We were talking mostly about you,"  
Ranma perked an eyebrow, "All good I hope,"  
"More or less," Luna continued to smirk.  
Ranma helped Luna bring the coffee and tea out into the livingroom where Akane and Asuka waited patiently. Once there, they all got comfortable and indulged in conversation, talking about this and that and nothing in particular. They talked almost until it was nearing sunrise before Lina finally decided to mention of the upcoming contest.  
"Ranma get rid of me," Lina commented.  
Ranma let out a breath, "From the way you're saying it, it seems like I'm the bad guy here,"  
Luna took a glance at Ranma, "Why would you want to do that?"  
He said, "I'm not hell-bent on leaving her here, but she has been more than a fair share of agrivation since she came to my world,"  
Lina gave a meek smile. There was no argument there. "So, what, you plan on living her here when you head back home?" Luna was a bit surprised. She figured Ranma would be patient enough o put up with her. Lina was annoying at time, sure, but she was a good person nonetheless, a good person to have around and know.  
Ranma grinned, "All thought that has crossed my mind, I'm not gonna do that. Instead, I figure we can have a friendly contest, so that she can earn her keep and stay around indefinitely,"  
"Oh?" Luna seemed curious.  
"There's another person, a rival of mine basically, that I'm gonna have a contest against, to see who is more powerful," he said, leaning back on the couch and placing his feet up on the livingroom coffeetable.  
Luna shot Ranma a glance, Ranma catching the hidden meaning and immediately putting his feet back down.  
"Um, anyway," he continued, clearing his throat, "I figure Lina could also take part in the contest since she seems to be really interested in seeing who is more powerful anyway, her or myself. Anyway, if it turns out that she wins this contest, she can stay,"  
"That would seem rather logical," Luna commented, "If she turns out to be more powerful, then there will be nothing you could do to make her leave,"  
He thought about it for a moment before giving a laugh, "Y'know what? You're right. I never thought of it that way,"  
"You don't really think things through that much, do you?" she gave Ranma a playful punch as Ranma chuckled at the comment.  
Asuka glared at Luna. Luna noticed this and gave a warm smile and said to her, "Relax, it was just a playful punch. No need to get jealous,"  
The girl blushed the same color as her hair color, "I-I a-am not jealous!"  
Luna realized something and said, "Waitaminute, where is this contest going to take place? Over the ocean, I assume?"  
"That's right," Ranma was a bit surprised, "How didja know that?"  
"It's not all that hard to figure out," she replied with a smile, "Where else could be a better place to test out one's powers without fear of hurting anyone or causing damage?"  
Ranma smiled warmly, "You're really perceiptive, Luna. I like that. It's like you already know the answers simply by quick deduction and common sense,"  
"That brings me to another question," Luna said, "If you intend to have this contest over the ocean, exactly how will my sister be able to take part in it? Unless she's managed to learn to get over that hurtle without my knowing, Lina can't cast a spell while her spell of flight is still active,"  
Ranma laughed, "God, you're amazing. Nothing escapes you, huh?" He scratched his head, "Hey, waitaminute," He leaned close toward Luna, so close that she is forced to lean back from the sudden awkwardness of such close proximity. He gazed at her for a few moments, "You ain't readin' my mind or nothing, are ya? Remember we had a truce,"  
Luna smiled in return, daring Ranma to break the truce and read her thoughts. She kepted thinking 'You lose, you just broke the truce' over and over in her mind...just in case he did accidentally looked further into her eyes than he was supposed to. "Me? Lose? You did it first!" Ranma shot up, pointing at her as Akane, Asuka, and Lina watched in confusion.  
"I did not!" she said, "You only assumed I read your thoughts. You on the other hand..."  
Ranma became extremely embarrassed, blushing a shade of red. Perhaps he shouldn't had assumed that she had read his thoughts and read hers in return. He had noticed that Luna was a very perceiptive person, every bit as perceiptive as himself if not more.  
Lina was regarding Luna intensively, "Sis, y-you can read people's thoughts? I-I never knew that,"  
She smiled, "Yeah, if I really wanted to. Of course, I don't know it unless I really want to,"  
"Um, have you ever read my thought?" Lina began. She wondered what it would be like to be able to read a person's mind, to be able to reach deep down into their subconscious and find out some things to them they probably didn't want anyone to know about. It would be one heck of a skill. To think of how many people she could exploit by simply blackmailing and threatening to reveal their innermost secrets.  
"No, I haven't read yours," she interrupted, "It's basically an invasion of privacy. And I wouldn't want you doing that with me if you knew how to do so also. I assume you would do the same also,"  
Ranma laughed, "Ha, and you call yourself Lina's sister? You should know her better by now,"  
"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Lina glared at Ranma. It only took her a second before she regretted asking that.  
"Knowing you," Ranma said, "You'd probably blackmail people with what you know about them because you've read their thoughts,"  
"I am not!" Lina lied through her teeth.  
Ranma laughed, "Ha, you can't lie to me becase I can read your thoughts! That's exactly what you were thinking!"  
"Ranma! Didn't we agree to a truce?" Luna shot him a slightly angered glance.  
He smiled, "Well, yeah, but the truce was between the two of us, not with other people. You're more than welcome to read Asuka or Akane's thoughts if ya want. I won't complain,"  
"Ranma!" Akane and Asuka shouted at Ranma.  
"What?" he asked innocently, trying to keep a straight face.  
"All right, let's change the subject," Luna said, a bit annoyed.  
"Yeah, let's do," Lina agreed.  
"On to the conest," Luna said, "What do you plan on doing to get past the fact that Lina here can't cast two spells at once?"  
Ranma looked at Lina, wondering if he or she should be the one doing the asking. When he noticed the rather embarrassed look on Lina's face, he took it upon himself to do the speaking on her behalf.  
"Actually, that's one of the reasons why we came here. That is, aside from visiting you that is," he said, making sure that Luna wasn't misinterpretating.  
Luna smirked, "Nice save,"  
Ranma grinned before said, "Anyway, I remember you showing me your spellbook and you had mentioned of a spell that is only temporary but allows the caster to cast multiple spells,"  
Lina seemed a bit crestfallen and commented to herslef, "Why does Ranma get to see that spellbook and not me?"  
"Perhaps it's because you'd probably end up learning some of the spells and would probably exploit some of them," she commented wryly.  
Lina was silent. Was she that predicatable?  
"Anyway, what do you say?" Ranma asked, "Would you allow Lina to learn that spell so that she can participate in the contest?"  
Luna seemed a bit cautiou, "I don't know. I don't want to seem selfish as if I want no one learning my spells-"  
"But the thought of Lina learning them is what have you worried," Ranma finished for her.  
Luna nodded.  
"Hello? I'm right here in the room with you," Lina called out, waving her arms, "I'm not some kinda monster that intend to take over the world or nothing,"  
Ranma gave Lina a glance, "I dunno. I betcha it's crossed your mind from time to time, to take over the world,"

new stuff 8/26  
"So, what do you say? Would you like to come to my world?" Ranma asked from out fo the the blue.  
Luna thought about it for several moments before finally saying, "Well, as much as I would like to, I can't just abandon my job,"  
"Why not? I could always have it where you come back only a second after your leave, even if you stay on my world for a long period of time," he said, "Of course, that means I'm gonna hafta master the use of the nanban mirror. Whenever I use it, the time differences between the worlds seems to be random. I could be on one world for a day and a year could pass on this world,"  
Luna seemed a bit crestfallen.  
"But that's because I'm not too familiar with how the nanban mirror works exactly," he added, "I'm sure that given the practice, I'll be able to mater it in no time,"  
"You seem awefully confident," Luna commented.  
He nodded, "More or less. I remember a long time ago, I had used the nanban mirror to travel long distances where only a fraction of a second had elapsed,"  
"You have? When?" Asuka asked.  
Ranma smiled, "I guess you forgot, huh?"  
"Enlighten me," she retorted.  
"Remember when you were fighting those other EVAs when me and Ryoga showed up?" he said, "Well, only a split second before we showed up, we had been in China. Also, another example occurred when I used the mirror to basically warp you, Ryoga, Ritsuko, Rei, and Shinji outta Nerv Headquarters when I had used my newly developed technique, the one where I put all my ki behind a single devestating punch, on that Lorenz guy deep down underground and was forced to use the mirror to warpo all of us to safety,"  
Asuka was silent. She had totally forgotten about that. She recalled Nerv Headquarters shaking violently and peeking around a corner to see a huge wall of flame heading down the corridor in her direction. And just fractions of a second before she would had been consumed, Ranma had somehow used the mirror to warp to where she was, grab a hold of her, and warp out to safety.  
"I had to warp a few times, and in those few times, only a fraction or so of a second had elapsed," he said, smiling a bit, "In a way, I was forced to master the nanban mirror and did master it, even though it was temporarily. I'm sure that if I had to do it again, I'd remember how I did it and would not forget this time around,"  
Luna smiled, sounding almost hopeful, "Well, now that you put things that way, perhaps a visit to your world isn't all that bad,"  
"It'd be fun," Ranma said, "You can be the judge for the contest. You can look around and see how the world is very different from your own. Heck, perhaps you can even bring back ideas or gadgets from the other world back home with you and be considered some kinda genius inventor here,"  
Luna said, "I think I'll just stick with just visiting,"  
"So does that mean you'll come?" Ranma asked, eagerness in his voice.  
"Hmph, why is he so eager to have her come?" Asuka muttered softly so that only Akane could hear.  
Akane only shrugged.  
"So what if she's prettier and smarter and kinder than any of us," she continued to mutter, "It still doesn't mean Ranma should go outta his way to allow her to come back with us,"  
"I think it's because she seems to be playing 'hard to get'," Akane answered softly, "Maybe it's the challenge that makes Ranma seem to interested,"  
"That's it?" Asuka looked at Akane.  
"I'm only making a guess here," Akane shrugged.  
Asuka smirked, deep in thought.  
Akane looked at her, "What the heck are you scheming?"  
"N-nothing, nothing at all," Asuka replied nervously.  
Akane narrowed her eyes at Asuka, "Whatever you're scheming, forget about it,"  
"Whatcha guys talkin' about?" Ranma asked, noticing Asuka and Akane whispering to one another.  
"Oh, nothing much," Akane acted casual. He shrugged and turned back to Luna, "Anway, are you interested in coming?"  
"Sure, why not," she smiled.  
"Good," he smiled in return.

new stuff 9/8

Ranma and the others returned to Ranma's world using the nanban mirror. They appeared in a bright flash of light high above Ranma's home. This time, Asuka didn't even yelp out in fright for she quickly felt herself being held onto tightly in Ranma's arms during the descent. Ranma, while holding Asuka, flipped forward just mere meters above the ground and landed on his feet without making a single noise. Akane basically did the same thing, also landing skillfully right next to Ranma. They landed in the backyard. It was sometime in the evening, probably nearing eight.  
Luna and Lina simply hovered to the ground.  
"I wonder why the heck we always appear above the ground," Ranma commented, looking at Asuka, "If we didn't I wouldn't hafta worry about someone like you or basically anyone else having a rough landing. Um, you can let go now, Asuka, we're safely on the ground,"  
Asuka blushed slightly as Ranma released his hold of her and placed her on the firm ground. She was surprised at herself that she hadn't been at all scared about the frightful freefall like last time. Perhaps it was because Ranma had initially picked her up in his arms before using the nanban mirror to send all of them back home.  
Luna was glancing around, regarding the koi pond.  
"This is nice," she commented, "Perhaps I should have something like this in my backyard,"  
"I recommend it," Ranma said, "It's actually really relaxing to simply sit nearby and watch the koi swim around. Many times I would come here and simply watch the fish for an hour or so. It's peaceful,"  
Akane pointed toward the dojo just a short ways off, "That's our dojo. That's basically where Ranma and I train,"  
"What about me?" Asuka asked, "I train there also,"  
"Oh yeah, Shinji and Asuka, too," Ranma added.  
Asuka pouted a bit. She didn't want to be associated with Shinji as one of the people that trained. She would rather be associated with someone along Ranma and Akane's calibur in terms of training.  
Ranma looked at Asuka and smirked a bit, "Are you pouting? Whatcha upset about now?"  
"Nothing," she quickly said, changing her facial expression to that of annoyance.  
"That's our home," Akane continued on, gesturing toward the back of the large house, "At the moment, Ranma, Asuka, a young boy named Shinji and a guy named Ryoga is living there. Ryoga isn't there all that much because he tends to travel a lot,"  
"Dontcha mean get lost a lot?" Ranma joked with a grin.  
"More or less," Akane agreed without much effort. She added, "However, there were several other people staying with us. Thirteen others to be exact,"  
"That's a lot of people to be living under a single roof," Luna commented in surprise.  
Ranma smiled, "It's not that bad. It's a really big house,"  
"Ranma!" came a high pitched squeak.  
Everyone turned to face the source of the voice. Their gaze rested on a little girl of around nine years old as she ran out of the house, making a beeline straight into Ranma's awaiting arms.  
"Hey, Jun, I'm glad you came to greet us," Ranma swung her around a few times as she giggled happily.  
Luna looked at the young girl and then turned toward Lina, "Is she-"  
"His daughter?" Lina smirked, "No. She's the daughter of this couple he's friends with,"  
"Oh," Luna said.  
"Hello, Auntie Akane. Hello, Asuka. Hello, Lina," Jun greeted them, waving at them as Ranma still held her.  
Everyone greeted her. Lina greeted, too, even by name. It seems the young girl and her cheery demeanor had made a place in Lina's heart for she actually liked her, even well enough to remember her name. "Hello," Luna said with a cheery smile when Ranma put her down on her feet.  
"Hello," Luna smiled warmly, "And what's your name?"  
"My name is Jun," the young girl said.  
"My name's Luna," she said, bowing politely.  
Jun turned toward Ranma, "She's pretty,"  
Ranma regarded Luna for a moment before shrugging, "I guess so,"  
"I like her already," Luna smiled warmly.  
"Ranma and I are boyfriend and girlfriend. Ranma is the boyfriend and I am the girlfriend that is," Jun commented eagerly, wrapping her arms around one of Ranma's leg as she said, "We are going to get married,"  
Luna showed a bit of surprise upon hearing that statement. When she cast Ranma a quick glance and noticed him giving her a meek smile, she simply turned her attention back onto Jun and said, "Well, please be sure to invite me to your wedding,"  
"Will do," Jun said happily, "I can't wait. It's gonna be the bestest wedding ever. I'm gonna have all my friends come. We're gonna have the biggest cake. It's gonna be this high at least," To held a hand above her head to show the height.  
"My, that's a big cake," Luna said, "Are you sure you and Ranma and everyone at the wedding will be able to finish it?"  
Jun nodded, "Yeah. However, we're not all gonna eat it. I wanna have it where I pretend like I'm gonna feed Ranma a piece of cake and will surprise him when I wipe the frosting on the tip of his nose. I saw it done on television once,"  
Ranma smirked as he placed a hand on the top of Jun's little head, "Hey, now that you told me what you plan on doing, I won't be surprised when you do do it,"  
Jun wasn't fazed at all as she said, "Well, just forget I said it or at least pretend to be surprised then,"  
Everyone started laughing.  
"Well, I would love to see it happen," Luna said warmly, "It'd be really funny to see the expression on Ranma's face,"  
"Yeah," Jun nodded.  
"Jun, why dontcha go in and tell everyone that I'm back?" Ranma told her.  
"Okay," she responded, already totally forgetting about the conversation she was having a second ago. She skipped along as she headed into the house to do as Ranma had asked.  
"She's sweet," Luna said.  
"Definitely," he said, "I wonder if I'll ever have a daughter as sweet as her. Even if she's half as sweet, I'll still be a lucky father,"  
Akane perked an eye brow, "A daughter? So does that mean you're thinking about settling down and raising a family?"  
Ranma shrugged, "Yeah, sooner or later. I ain't in no rush though,"  
"Jun is a really easy girl to like," Luna added, "She's so sunny. It's like she lights up a room when she enters it,"  
"Yeah," he said. He smiled warmly at her, "She seems to have taking quite a liking to you. It seem you're really good with kids,"  
Luna smiled, "I try to be,"  
"You'd make a terriffic mother," he added innocently, "That's for sure,"  
"Ranma, you're embarrassing me," she blushed, giving him a playful punch.  
From within the house, Priss and Misato had been sitting on the couch near the window when they had glanced out and noticed that Ranma wa back. A second later, they saw Jun running by stating 'Everybody, Ranma is back' as she headed for upstairs to tell everyone else.  
Misato had noticed this girl, whoever she was, giving Ranma a playful punch in his arm.  
"Is she flirting with him?" Misato asked Priss, "Who the hell is she?"  
Priss regarded the girl through the window for a few moments, already disliking her, "I dunno, but who the hell does she think she is, all up on him like that?"  
She got up off the couch and headed for the back door to meet up with them, Misato following closely behind.  
"Hey, Ranma, glad you're back," Misato said to Ranma in a casual manner. She made it seem like she was there to greet a good friend, not all that bothered about the beautiful girl standing next to him. She would have to talk to Akane or Asuka about it and ask them for their opinions.  
Everyone else came out to greet the group. They stood in the middle of the backyard chatting. Most of the questions were geared toward Luna and her aquaintance with Ranma some of the rather embarrassing and personal. She didn't seem to be all that bothered by it keeping her answers concise.  
Eventually, eveyone made their way into the livingroom and sat down to talk some more. As the hours passed by, Ranma noticed how late it was and that Jun was still up. Jun, although only having a decent grasp of her vocabulary words, managed to understand most of the conversations.  
"Hey, Jun, it's waaaay past your bedtime," Ranma commented, to the little girl. Jun was indeed very tired, yet also in an excited way. She had never stayed up this late before. Being around Ranma was so fun. Her parents had been so caught up with talking that they had forgotten to put her to sleep. Of course, it didn't help out that much when Ranma noticed her still away.  
Ranma swooped the little girl up and into his arms, "C'mon, I'll go putcha to sleep,"  
"Oh, don't worry about it, I'll do it," Madigan assumed her responsibilities. She felt a bit embarrassed for not being as good a mother as she thought she was.  
Ranma shook his head, "Don't worry about it. I'll put her to sleep," He smiled warmly, "Besides, Jun just fell asleep," He gestured toward the soundly sleeping girl. He left the room and headed up the stairs.  
Upstairs, as he put Jun into her bed, he asked softly, "Jun, so, what do you think of Luna? Do you think she's a nice person?"  
The little girl only stirred slightly. She snuggled against the pillow, fast asleep.  
Ranma smiled.

Ranma sat on the back porch as Luna walked by. It was close to dawn now. Luna had said in the same room as Lina for the night. Everyone else had stayed in their assigned room, the night passing by without incident.  
"You're up early," Luna commented, stading behind him. She noticed Ranma was peering across the backyard and toward the dojo.  
"Yeah, I'm usually up ealier," he replied without turning around.  
"Woulw you care if I sit down?" she asked.  
He shook his head, "Not at all. Have a seat,"  
Luna took a seat next to Ranma, her legs having over the side of the house, her feet just barely touching the slightly dewed ground. She regarded Ranma for a moment and noticed how calm he looked.  
"Ah, I love this," Ranma commented, leaning back and propping himself up on his elbows as he looked up at the sky.  
Luna blushed, "Y-you do?" Ranma loved having her sit next to him?  
He said, "Yeah. It's so peaceful,"  
"Oh," she said. If she was disappointed, she showed no signs.  
"It's been a long long time since I've been able to simply, well, enjoy a peaceful sunrise," he said, "It's a bit different from what I'm used to,"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I'm always up this early in the morning so I always see the sun rise," he said, "However, it's a bit different this time around. This is the first time I was ever able to really enjoy watching the sun rise. Most of the time, when I'm watching a sunrise, I usually have something else on my mind. It's basically always been like this,"  
"You must have had a pretty rough life," she commented.  
Ranma chuckled, "More or less,"  
"From the way it sounds, it seems you're always doing something, and you never have the chance to simply do, well, nothing," she said.  
He smiled, "That's a perfect way of putting things,"  
Luna laughed a bit, "It's kind of weird. I actually go through the same thing back on the other world. If I'm up, it's usually because I'm getting ready to goto work or something or another. Ever since I came here, and realize that there is no rush for me to get back, I've actually been able to relax much more and not have to worry about things,"  
"I know exactly whatcha mean," he agreed.  
She smiled, "I'm tempted to simply, say, go down to the beach just so I could walk along it. Or perhaps make a sandcastle. Or perhaps read a novel. All because I actually have the time to do so for a change. It's a lot of relief when you realize that there is nothing planned out for you later in the day or week,"  
"Well, there is that contest," Ranma commented, "However, I have no idea where Ryoga is. If he doesn't show up, oh well,"  
Luna gave Ranma a playful punch, "Don't say that. I'm actually very eager to see the contest,"  
Ranma smirked, "Why?"  
"Is there something so wrong with being a bit excited or wanting to go see the contest?" Luna asked, smiling in return.  
Ranma grinned, "Oh, I know. I know why ya wanna watch,"  
"Oh?"  
"You wanna root for me, that's why," he said.  
Luna burst out laughing. Ranma looked confused. After a moment, he started laughing. When they stopped Luna reached out and touched Ranma's hand, a warm smile on her lips.  
"If you want to believe that, then fine," she said.  
For a brief moment, Ranma and Luna's gaze made contact. And for just a brief moment, Ranma's face inched forward, as if he realized Luna was expecting him to kiss her.

Old stuff

add in scene where Luna discovers shoujo manga and tries acting out the 'schoolgirl bumping into prospective boyfriend' bit

Ranma, Ryoga, Lina, and Luna stood near a cliff as they peered down at the crashing waters far down below. They were as far east on the continent of Japan as they could go before they were expected to travel over the ocean. "Man, I gotta see this. Ryoga can fly," Ranma commented, his arms on his hips as he regarded his friend/rival, "It's already dangerous enough that we have a Ryoga can do considerable damage where ever he walks and now we have the new an improved version where he can cause damage even in the skies,"  
"Ha ha, real funny," Ryoga sneered, "I guess you haven't changed since we last met. You're still the same jerk I remembered from back then,"  
Lina was busy talking to her sister as Ranma and Ryoga argued.  
"I still think it's better that you simply teach me how to cast multiple simultaneous spells," Lina commented in annoyance.  
Luna shook her head, "And I think otherwise. I know you, and I know you would exploit that ability if I taught you. Let's just say that if I hadn't come, then I would have given you something along the lines of a 'flight' gem that you could carry with you so that you can use it to fly instead of having to cast a spell,"  
Lina huffed, "Still,"  
They stopped their conversation when they heard a loud noise and looked toward the source. Their gaze came upon Ranma as he had his arm held forward in front of him, his hand in a fist. It looked like he had punched something. Or someone.  
It didn't take them real long before they realized that Ryoga had originally been standing right in front of Ranma.  
"D-did you punch Ryoga off this cliff?" Lina asked, a bit surprised. That seemed to be the only explanation. Ryoga couldn't have wandered off and gotten lost already, not with they being so nearby.  
He gave a meek smile, "Um, I guess you could say that,"  
What happened next even surprised Ranma.  
The side of the cliff shook as a bright light could be seen emanating from below. As the three of them shielded their eyes from the brilliant light, all that could be heard aside from the crashing waves down below was this loud scream.  
"Ranma!" could be heard.  
Ranma gulped as a second later, a very fuming Ryoga seemed to hover back up to the edge of the cliff. He had the most brilliant battle aura Ranma had ever seen. It even dwarfed his own.  
Ryoga looked furious.  
"How about this? Rather than shoot ki-blasts all day to see whose is more powerful, why don't we simply beat the living crap outta each other?" Ryoga asked, barely containing his anger.  
Ranma smirked and sneered, unfazed by the glowing anger before him, "Fine, let's do it,"  
"Now now, boys," Luna said in voice so calm that it even unnerved Lina. How the heck could she be so calm, Lina thought. They look like they're not even aware that we're here. If they fight, we could get caught in the battle.  
She shuddered at thought of Ranma and Ryoga fighting again. She had seem some wicked battle, even participated in most of them, but seeing even the tiniest fight between Ranma and Ryoga seemed like it could become cataclysmic.  
Ranma and Ryoga turned their attention toward Luna. It seemed her calm voice cut through to them. "I came here to see a contest, not a fight," Luna said, smiling slightly, "You wouldn't wanna disappoint a woman like myself now would you?"  
Ryoga seemed to calm down a bit as he hovered back down on the the firm ground of the cliff. His battle aura disappeared and the ground seemed to stop shaking also.  
Ranma shrugged, undeterred.  
Luna said, "Well, why don't we go on out over the ocean and start the contest?"  
Ranma and Ryoga looked at each other and seemed to give themselves a silent agreement.  
Ranma turned toward the two girls, "All right,"  
Ryoga was the first to take off, jumping upward and off the cliff, immediately taking the the skies. As he hovered there, waiting for Ranma to follow after him, he noticed Ranma seemed to be regarding him for longer than he wanted.  
"What?" Ryoga asked impatiently.  
"I'm jus' curious as to how you're flying," Ranma asked, "It looks as if you're using your ki to sustain flight,"  
Ryoga nodded, "That's right. It's very much like how Herb flew. He used his ki. I'm very much doing the same. I've learned so much about ki over time that it's basically natural for me to fly. I don't even have to concentrate anymore,"  
Ranma scratched his chin, "Man, where ever you've been, I'd like to give that world a vist. I'm sure I could learn a thing or two,"  
Without saying another word, Ranma walked up to the edge of the cliff and lept into the sky. Before gravity had a chance to take its course, two massive angelwing shot out from Ranma's back and began to flap, as Ranma casually hovered up to where Ryoga was hovering.  
Ryoga showed a bit of shock upon seeing this. He never knew Ranma could produce wings. Regardless, the sight of Ranma with his massive wings was quite a sight to behold. There was an air of divinity to that image.  
Luna regarded Ranma with wide eyes. This was the first time she was seeing him with wings. The image was very breathtaking. Perhaps it was the shock of realizing there was more to Ranma than she knew. It made getting to know more about Ranma all the more appealing, to find out all these secrets.  
"Whatcha doing? Undressing me with your eyes?" Ranma asked with a grin.  
Luna blushed when she realized she had been staring at him. She cleared her throat and banished her embarrassment. Lina was surprised at how easily her sister could do that.  
Luna was the next to take to the skies. All she did was hover up into the sky up to Ranma and Ryoga. Lina was shocked when she saw this.  
"H-h-how did you do that?" Lina gasped, "H-how did you fly without casting a spell?"  
Luna smiled, "I'm up to the point where I don't have to chant the words to a spell anymore. I still do it from time to time out of habit,"  
"N-no longer needing to chant the spell?" Lina continued to gaze in wide-eye shock, "You're kidding me, right?"  
"No, I'm not," she replied, "Keep in mind we haven't seen each other in a while. I've learned and discovered a lot over time. Casting spells without chanting them is one of them. I guess over time, you will eventually see everything I've learned and discovered,"  
Lina sighed, feeling dejected. She believed she was one of the greatest magic-  
users on her world, second only to Luna. Even if that were the case, Luna seemed to be so far and beyond her superior that Lina was having doubts she would ever be able to reach her level of expertise.  
"I think I know what you're thinking," Luna said, smiling, "But you shouldn't worry about it. You'll learn to do the things I do soon enough. You have easily the potential to do so. It's just the mentality you have to work on,"  
Lina narrowed her eyes, "Hey,"  
Ranma laughed. Luna lauged also. Ryoga seemed confused.  
"This isn't an attack on you personally," Luna said, "It's just that you have to realize there is more to magic than using it to go dragon slaying and robbing bandits and stealing their money,"  
Lina was silent. Luna did have a point.  
"We can talk about that later," Luna said, "Come on. Why don't we get going? I'm really eager to see the contest, afterall,"  
"All right," Lina said softly. Just as she was about to chant the words give her flight, she started hovering off the ground, "What the?"  
"I'm making you fly," Luna said, "There's no need to cast the spell. I basically casted my version of the 'Raywing' spell you use,"  
It only took Lina to get used to this new form of flight. The spell Luna had casted was much better than her own. Lina was able to fly through the air with more ease and accuracy as well as speed. She did several twists and turns.  
"Look at her," Ranma joked in a warm voice, "It's like she's discovered the joy of walking all over again,"  
Luna laughed as Lina glared at Ranma, a slight hue of red on her cheeks.  
"C'mon, let's get going," Ranma said.  
Before anyone could say anything, Ranma darted off over the vast ocean.  
Luna and Lina and Ryoga quickly followed.

"You go first," Ranma told Ryoga.  
Everyone was now somewhere far off the coast of Japan and over the Pacific ocean. They were a couple of miles above the ocean surface. It had only taken them around and hour to make it to the halfway point between Hawaii and Japan. It would had taken a shorter time but no one had been in a rush.  
The skies were bright and clear and there seemed to be no indication of bad weather. It was a bit chilly, what with the ocean winds, but the four of them seemed unbothered.  
Ryoga turned toward Lina, "You wanna go instead?"  
Lina shook her head, "Nah. You go first,"  
She figured she would let Ranma and Ryoga have their fun showing off first before she showed them what she was capable of.  
Ryoga shrugged to the young sorceress and said, "All right," He hovered higher into the sky, Ranma and Luna and Lina following.  
"Ah, I see you wanna bring out the big guns already," Ranma commented, knowing full well that if he wanted to shoot off some more powerful ki-blasts, he would had hovered higher into the air, "Heh, I mean why else would we be so high unless you're worried that the size of the blast could actually reach us all the way up here?"  
"If I wanted to show you something powerful, then I'd hafta hover all the way up into space," Ryoga smirked.  
Luna turned toward Lina, "This is what people call a 'pissing match' between males. Thank goodness women don't have to deal with this already overadbundant show of testosterone,"  
Ranma and Ryoga turned toward Luna as she and Lina giggled. Pretty soon, they started laughing also.  
"All right, I'll start things off," Ryoga said when the laughing stopped.  
Ranma, Lina, and Luna hovered so that they were situated above and behind Ryoga, which gave him free room from where he was all the way to the ocean down below.  
They watched intently as Ryoga casually extended a hand forward, palm forward.  
"Shi Shi Hakodan," he said. He put no effort behind his ki-blast, figuring he should start out small.  
A massive ki-blast shot from his hand, but not powerful enough that Ryoga's arm snapped back from the kickback of shooting such a projectile. The blast rocketted toward the ocean below where it made contact and exploded. A second later, a crater around a hundred feet in diameter could be seen momentarily on the ocean surface before the water deludged in from all sides and filled the crater back up.  
Ranma smirked, "Not bad,"  
Lina seemed to be in a state of shock but it wasn't evident on her face. Luna was also mildly impressed.  
Ryoga smiled, accepting the compliment.  
Not wanting to be outdone by someone like Ryoga, Ranma took his turn at showing off. He extended his hand, palm facing forward toward the ocean.  
"Moko Takabisha!" he said.  
A equally massive ki-blast erupted from Ranma's hand. However, instead of exploding upon contact with the ocean surface, it penetrated it and continued travelling downward where it disappeared far down below. Left behind momentairly was this cylindrical tunnel around a hundred meter in diameter that seemed to travel endlessly downward before becoming pitch black due to lack of light. The image was rather unsettling as the water started filling in the hole in the ocean and created a momentary whirlpool.  
"That's good," Ryoga had to admit, nodding in acknowledgment.  
"It's your turn," Ranma turned toward Lina. Ranma noticed the momentary shock on Lina's face before she banished her feelings and steeled herself. He smirked a bit, wondering what thoughts were going through her pretty little head at the moment.  
Lina gulped. She felt nervous. Without even trying, Ranma and Ryoga had just thrown out ki-blasts that rivalled even those of her most poweful fireballs. She would have to dig down deep to out do them.  
She held a hand upward, palm open and began chanting the words to her spell. As she whispered her spell, a spherical object appeared above her hand and began to grow until it was around two feet in diameter.  
"Fireball!" Lina shouted as she finished her spell and quickly brought her arm down and toward the ocean below. The spherical object travelled downward at an alarming speed and struck the surface of the ocean and erupted into a massive explosion. As soon as it disappeared, a momentary sight of a hundred and fifty feet crater could be seen being filled up with water.  
Ranma and Ryoga whistled.  
"Nice," Ranma commented.  
Lina smiled, blushing slightly, "T-thanks,"  
She didn't know why, but she liked hearing that. Perhaps it was because it was Ranma's acknowledgement of her power that made it so worthwhile to hear.  
Ranma turned toward Ryoga, "Enough with the warm-ups. How about we cut the bullshit and get on to the big stuff?"  
Ryoga smirked, "Fine by me,"  
Luna perked an eyebrow. Lina's face became pale. That was a warm-up? She was already a bit tired from casting such a spell. She needed some time to recover or her next spell wouldn't be as powerful.  
"You okay?" Luna hovered close to her sister.  
"Um, I guess," Lina said dejectedly, "I jus' need some time to rest,"  
"Don't worry," Luna said, "I've got you covered,"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I'll cast a spell on you that will momentarily give you an infinite supply of magic power," Luna smiled warmly, "That means you won't have to take time to rest after a big spell,"  
"Y-you can do that?" Lina was shocked.  
Luna continued to smile as she nodded, "Yes, I can,"  
"Thanks," came the grateful reply.  
When they turned their attention toward Ryoga, they managed to catch a glimpse of him just as he shot his ki-blast. It looked like he had used two hands to shoot that ki-blast because both his arms snapped back from the kickback of shooting such a projectile as he was also pushed back several meters from it also.  
The ki-blast was about ten feet in diameter as it left his hands and started to grow at an exponential rate as it travelled towardhwat and into a gigantic sphere, somewhere around a kilometer in diamter right before contact with the water surface.  
The explosion was so magnificant that everyone had to shield their eyes from the brilliance. It only lasted a second though. When they glanced down, they saw this gaping hole around a mile in diameter on the ocean surface as the water started to fill it in.  
"Man, that was big!" Ranma showed his surprise, "You've gotten a lot more powerful than I last saw you,"  
Ryoga smiled, "Well, I've been training quite a while,"  
"I'd like to know where one day," Ranma commented.  
"Actually, it's not really the 'where' that matter but rather with 'whom' I trained with," he replied, "Or better yet, was trained under," He then smirked. He was breathing a bit heavily though, "Try and beat that,"  
Ranma smirked back, "All right,"  
"I've got to see this," Luna commented. Ryoga's ki-blast had even rivalled her own most powerful fireball and she was eager to see what Ranma would be able to produce to out-do even that.  
Everyone watched as Ranma cupped his hands and held them near his right hip. Lina's eyes widened as she noticed that it was the exact same stance she would use as that of her Dragon Slave spell. It meant Ranma meant business because that stance was the best stance to call forth power before releasing it.  
Ranma's battle aura blazed to life as everyone was forced to cover their eyes from the brilliance. Beams of light could be seen escapping from Ranma's fingertips as he concentrated his ki into his cupped hand. A hissing noise could be heard as the ki began to build up in his hands. It was a noise Ryoga recognized all too easily from that other world he had been on.  
"Seppukku Beam Moko Takabisha!" Ranma shouted, snapping his hands forward.  
What happened next shocked everyone. A red barrier-like wall form in front of Ranma and began expanding outward in every direction, creating an AT field of a wall of rippling energy. A massive column of ki shot out from his extended hands and spiralled down toward the ocean below. The column started out roughly the diameter of Ranam's height but it immediately expanded and grew in size so that it was close to a hundred yards wide just as the front end of the beam hit the water surface.  
As the beam seemed to extend forward Ranma's hand like this footballfield-wide pole made of pure ki, he pivoted his body and move his arms around while he hovered in place.  
When everyone glance down at the water below, they noticed Ranma was seemingly cutting through the water surface like a hot knife through butter and curving it around so that it looked he was trying to draw a circle.  
When he finally finished and stopped shooting forward his ki, an image of a mile wide circle with with lines a hundred yards thick could be seen as the water started filling then canyon-like grooves in the water Ranma had created a second ago.  
"Oh my god!" Lina gasped.  
Luna was extremely amused, "That's very impressive. I definitely have to give you credit on creativity on showing off your powers,"  
Ranma, a bit winded, smiled as he scratched the back of his head and said in a modest voice, "Thanks,"  
"As impressive as it was, the circle isn't a perfect circle," Ryoga commented with a smirk.  
"Are you stupid? I just drew an image on the ocean surface by basically evaporating the water as I controlled my ki like it was a pen. Lettsee ya top that if you can," Ranma taunted him.  
Ryoga smirked as he cracked his knuckles, "All right,"  
"Hold up!" Lina shouted out.  
"What is it?" Ranma turned toward her.  
"I didn't get a chance to go yet," she said.  
new stuff 8/27

"So?" he said.  
"What do you mean 'so'?" Lina snapped, "It's my turn,"  
Ranma shrugged, "All right, go right ahead,"  
Lina started getting angry, "Why the heck are you shrugging like that? I'm in this contest every bit as much as you and Ryoga are,"  
"Um, actually, that's not true," he smiled a bit.  
"What?"  
"I was only having some fun," Ranma smiled, "It's not like I was really gonna send ya back home if you didn't win the contest. Besides, at the rate we're going, there's no way you're gonna be able to win so why not just give up now?"  
Lina's right eyelid twitched, "G-give up? Me? N-not win? What the heck makes you think something like that?"  
Ranma held his hands up defensively, "I don't mean to insult ya or nothing, but judging from what I already know about you, the only thing you have in your arsenal even remotely close to the power we're dishing out is your Dragon Slave spell, which, with all due respect, is still not powerful enough to match my or Ryoga's blast,"  
"Why you arrogant-" Lina started fuming, her hands clenched into fists.  
Luna smirked. Lina was falling right into Ranma's trap. He was purposely making her angry. Couldn't she see that? But then again, perhaps that was a good thing. Only when Lina was burning with anger or fearful of her life could she conjure the real powerful spells.  
Luna had noticed this when Ranma threw his first ki-blast. It seems that Ranma was only competing against Ryoga. He was basically throwing out ki-blasts just slightly more powerful than Ryoga's so that Lina would have a chance to outdo Ranma's ki-blast. She now knew why Ranma was getting Lina angry, so that she would throw out a spell so powerful that Ryoga would not be able to outdo her. Ranma only wanted to embarrass Ryoga. That was it.  
"All right, prove me wrong," Ranma gave her the benefit of the doubt, "I'll prove you more than that," Lina said.  
Without saying another word, she held her hands in front of her chest and began chanting the words to her Dragon Slave spell.  
"Darkness from twilight, crimson from blood that flows," Lina began, her eyes closed.  
Ranma hovered toward Luna, "Hey, ain't that the words to the Dragon Slave spell of hers? I remember her starting off her spell like that,"  
Luna nodded, "That's right,"  
"Buried in the flow of time. In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness! Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess!"  
"Who the heck is she talking about?" Ranma asked Luna.  
"Shabranigdu," Luna said, "He's the leader of darkness and Lina is calling on the power of him to help her cast her spell,"  
He smiled, "That sounds cool,"  
He turned his attention back onto Lina just as she was finished with her spell.  
"Dragon Slave!" she shouted as she extended her arms forward and released her spell. A massive projectile erupted from her hands. It looked a bit like that of her fireball except the projectile had a red spiralling tail, like that of a red comet spinning quickly as it moved away from her hands.  
When the projectile struck the water below, it expanded immediately outward in all directions and continued to do so at an alarming rate, so much that Ranma and Ryoga got a bit worried that it would continue to expand and eventually reach all the way up to their vantage point which was a few miles high in the sky.  
Fortunately, it stopped expanding after it expand to around three miles in diameter and finally disappearing, leaving behind an even larger gaping hole in the ocean than both Ranma and Ryoga had previously done.  
"Damn," Ranma was obviously impressed.  
Lina smirked, feeling light-headed with joy. She couldn't believe she had been able to do something like that. The most powerful Dragon Slave she had ever casted in her life was probably only a fraction in power of the one she had just thrown. It was unbelieveable that she was capable of doing that, so much so that it even made Lina surprised and happy about it.  
Ranma smiled inwardly. He was very surprised Lina was capable of something like that. It made him look at her in a whole new light. It also meant that he should perhaps watch what he said to her from now on because he would definitely not like getting struck with something of that maginitude in power. He should not tease her as much for fear of getting her angry and actually using that spell on him.  
"Nah," Ranma chuckled, "I'm never gonna stop the teasing,"  
"What didja say?" Ryoga asked.  
Ranma shook his head, "Oh, nothing,"  
He grinned at Ryoga. That Dragon Slave had far exceeded what Ranma had originally thought she was capable of. He was sure Ryoga would not be able to top that. And once he admitted that he couldn't, Ranma would simply outdo Lina's spell and call himself the winner of the contest with Lina coming in second place and Ryoga a distant third. Afterall, Ranma's pride was on the line. He couldn't lose to a girl, especially someone like Lina.  
"Well, Ryoga, it looks like Lina here beat the snot outta your dinky ki-blast. I guess you lose," Ranma commented, "Me, on the other hand, I still have some more tricks up my sleeve,"  
Ryoga smirked, undaunted, "Not so fast there, Ranma. I'm not outta the contest yet. I still have some of my own tricks,"  
Ranma stopped his grinning, his face now serious, "You do?"  
"I don't care if I lose to Lina in the contest, but I'll be damned if I lose to you," Ryoga narrowed his eyes on Ranma.  
"So what do ya plan on doing?" Ranma asked curiously.  
"Let's go all-out," Ryoga said, "I know you were holding back and you know I was holding back,"  
"True. Fine, then let's do it," Ranma accepted the challenge, "Let's go all-  
out,"  
"All-out?" Lina's eyes widened, "Y-you guys w-were holding back?"  
Ranma smiled meekly, "Well, more or less,"  
He turned back toward Ryoga. Pretty soon, they were arguing about who was more powerful.  
"This is most interesting," Luna commented, eyeing Ranma fondly. He was on heck of a specimen. Not only was he incredibly handsome, but he was perhaps the single most powerful person she knew, aside from herself that is. And to think that he had been holding back.  
"You're not helping any, sis," Lina said dejectedly.  
Luna hovered close to Lina and whispered, "Don't worry. From what I can tell, although they were holding back, they don't have much more to dish out than what they dished out before. If you dig down deep enough, you'll probably be able to beat them. I'm sure you can beat them if you cast another Dragon Slave, perhaps one three or four times more powerful than the one you have just casted,"  
Lina's eyes nearly popped out as she stared at her sister.  
"T-three or four times m-more powerful?" she stammered, "H-how the heck am I gonna do that! That was the single more powerful spell Dragon Slave I have ever casted in my entire life!"  
Luna smirked, "It shouldn't be all that hard. You still have your Giga Slave spell up your sleeve. Gee, I wonder what you would do if you had left that spell sealed away like you originally planned. Anyway, if I know you correctly, you must had been planning on using your Giga Slave as your final trump card if everything else fails,"  
"Um, well, yeah, but I wasn't really expecting to have to resort to using something of that calibur," Lina replied, "I don't want to cast it if I don't have to. You know full well of what can happen if I tried casting it. It could evaporate the half the water in this ocean,"  
Luna perked an eyebrow, "Really? Have you gotten that poweful since we last met?"  
"Perhaps I was exaggerating, but still, it's not something I wanna cast if I don't have to," she said.  
"C'mon, I'm your sister. You're not fooling anyone," Luna smirked, "You're terrified of losing control over the spell and becoming possessed,"  
"Gee, you think?" Lina aske sarcastically.  
Luna gave Lina an annoyed look.  
"S-sorry," Lina quickly said, a bit scared.  
Luna cleared her throat, "Well, you don't have much to worry about. If things go awry, I'll just step in and stop it,"  
"Still," Lina said nervously, "I'm a bit worried about casting it,"  
"All right," Luna said, "Then I guess you're going to have to find a way to muster the strength to cast a Dragon Slave three or four times more powerful than the one you just casted or give up on winning this contest,"  
Lina quickly said, "I will never give up,"  
"Well, good luck then," Luna said, "However, I am partial to say that even someone like myself would have trouble casting such a Dragon Slave. It's far more effort to make a powerful spell more powerful than it is to cast a superpowerful spell,"  
"Well, you do have a point there," Lina admitted.  
"It's your choice," Luna said, "However, if you do decide to go for the Giga Slave, I'll help you out if anything goes wrong,"  
Lina casted her sister a suspicious glance, "How come you're willing to go through so much trouble to help me?"  
Luna smiled warmly, "Lina, that's so like you, always being suspicious. However, if you really want to know, I am actually rooting for you to win because I would like to see Ranma's jaw drop when he realizes what your trump card was," She didn't bother to tell Lina the real truth, that she wanted her to win simply because she was her sister. Afterall, blood is thicker than water. Of course, what Luna had told her did hold some truth to it, too.  
"Well, at least knowing that you're here to help out makes me feel a bit better," Lina commented.  
Luna smiled, "Don't worry. Heck, if you Giga Slave does evaporate the ocean, I'll simply cast one of my water spells to fill it back up so it would be good as new,"  
Lina felt a bit envious and nervous of her sister. She knew that Luna was by far more powerful than herself but had never actually seen the extent of her powers. What was really scary was that she had no doubts that her sister was capable of doing something like that. Heck, Luna had gotten so powerful that there was no longer a need for her to show off how powerful she was. Lina sighed. She wished she could be that powerful, too.  
"Hey, I wonder what Ryoga is doing," Luna changed the subject. While she and Lina had been talking, Ranma and Ryoga had been busy arguing as usual. Eventually, they had decided to make do on their words and try and prove to each other who was more powerful.  
Ryoga hovered down toward the ocean below as Ranma and Luna and Lina stayed where they were. "Hm, I think I know what Ryoga plans on doing," Ranma commented.  
"What?" Lina asked curiously, gazing downward as Ryoga soon became a tiny speck from being so far away.  
"I think he's going to execute his 'Perfect Shi Shi Hakodan'," he replied, "Do you remember shortly after we met you saw this projectile shoot up from the forest and then come back down onto the exact same spot where it had emerged?"  
Lina nodded, "Yeah, when I went to check out what had caused it, I saw you basically standing in the middle of a fifty foot crater. If I recall correctly, I remember asking you where you had learned that technique-"  
"Yeah, and I told you that I had done that technique by accident," he finished for her.  
Lina smirked, "I'm surprised you remember that. That was a long long time ago,"  
Ranma smirked himself, "I remember a lot actually. Heh, I even remember the color of your bra and panties when we bumped into each other. Remember, this happened after you managed to destroy the hotel we had been staying due to a certain girl's inability to control her anger and the fireballs she tends to throw,"  
Lina blushed as she recalled it. She had been in her bra and panties during that time. She remembered soon fighting against Ranma when she kept pestering him on where he learned that technique and was eventually knocked unconsious when he had accidentally deflected one of her fireballs toward her and she hadn't gotten out of the way in time. She also recalled waking up in a hotel clad in pajamas. That meant Ranma had put those clothes on her sometime through the night before he left before she had awoken.  
"What's yer problem? You're looking at me like you wanna rip my head off," Ranma commented, hovering back slightly.  
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I should," Lina said, "I suddenly recall being knocked unconscious because of you and then waking up in a hotel with pajamas. That meant you had your hands on me when I was unconscious,"  
"I don't remember that," Ranma smirked.  
"Don't gimme none of that," Lina sneered, "Tellme, what did you touch while I was unconscious,"  
Ranma, figuring this conversation was downright stupid, decided to have some fun, "Oh, I didn't really touch much. All I did engage in lewd sexual acts with your unconscious body. Y'know, the usual stuff. It's amazing that an unconscious girl could moan like that,"  
Lina blushed terribly red as images of Ranma engaging in sexual intercourse with her as she was unconscious. The thought that she was lying naked on the bed as Ranma took advantage of her body made her shudder.  
Ranma leaned forward, narrowing his eyes as he noticed the bright blush on Lina's cheeks, "Jeez, you're blushing like crazy. You actually believe I did that?"  
"Well, who knows what could have happened," Lina said.  
"I can't believe I'm having this conversation," Ranma commented, "We were talking about the 'Perfect Shi Shi Hakodan' a second ago and now we're talking about my taking advantage of you while you had been unconscious god-knows how many months ago,"  
"So you admit it!" Lina snapped at him.  
Ranma made a shooing motion, "Go away, lil girl. You're bugging me. Talk to me when your head clears up,"  
"What are you two arguing about?" Luna hovered toward the two of them. She noticed them arguing a second ago and had chosen not to listen in out of respect, but as their argument got more heated, curiosity got the better of her.  
Ranma jerked a thumb toward Lina, "She thinks I raped her,"  
"I do not!" Lina said, "I merely believe you took advantage of me,"  
"Now how the heck did you guys end up in a conversation like this?" Luna asked.  
"That's the same thing I'm trying to figure out myself!" Ranma said, "Thank you!" He turned toward Lina and said, "Y'see? We shouldn't even be having this converstaion. It's ridiculous,"  
"This is a whole lot more interesting than the contest," Luna commented, "So, Ranma, how did this happen? What led my sister to believe you took advantage of her?"  
"Oh no, not you now!" Ranma said in exasperation, "Look, let's just say that Lina here believes I took advantage of her when I didn't. Case closed,"  
"How do we know that? I was unconsious, afterall," Lina added.  
Ranma twitched a bit, "Forget it. It's not worth explaining,"  
"So you admit it!" Lina shouted.  
"Go away," Ranma said, repeated that shooing motion.  
"Hmph! We'll settle this later!" Lina narrowed her eyes at him, "But first, I have a contest to win,"  
"Whatever you say," Ranma said sarcastically, "I look very forward to you accusations. I'll be sure to remind you afterwards in case you forget,"  
"Don't worry, I won't forget," Lina continued to glare at him.  
"I was saying it sarcastically!" Ranma shouted. He sighed, "Forget it,"  
"No, I won't forget it! That's why you won't need to remind me!"  
"Argh!" he feigned ripping his hair out. He turned toward Luna, "You believe me, right? You believe that I didn't take advantage of your sister, right?"  
Luna smirked. She was in a teasing mood. She fiegned skepticism and said, "I don't know,"  
"Man, I can't believe this. One minute we were shooting ki-blasts and fireballs and Dragon Slaves powerful enough to wipe out cities, and then the next minute, you and Lina think I'm some kinda sexual deviant,"  
"You said it, Ranma, not I," Luna smirked.  
Ranma sighed, "Forget it. We'll talk about this another time. Let's just get back to the contest,"  
"All right, " she smiled. It was fun teasing Ranma. Everyone turned their attention toward Ryoga. He looked like a tiny speck from their vantage point. Ryoga made it so that he was only hovering about an inch above the ocean surface. If anyone were close by, it would seem as if he were standing on the surface of the water. He then closed his eyes, his hand extended upward toward the heavens. He breathed slowly, allowing himself the time to prepare for what he was about to do. He knew that what he was about to do would basically wipe him out of all his energy and that he might even need to be rescued in case he went into unconsciousness from exhaustion.  
It took about a mintue before Ryoga finally set his mind on the task at hand.  
In an instant, Ryoga's battle aura blazed to life, the water below him being pushed away by some unseen wall. The water surface below him started to dip down and form into a crater, growing large and diameter as well as depth. It didn't take long for Ranma, Lina, or Luna to realize that Ryoga's battle aura was creating this.  
Ranma whistled, "Damn, that's one helluva battle aura,"  
He had to admit that this was by far the most impressive thing he had ever seen Ryoga do. Ryoga's battle aura was making a crater roughly a mile in diameter and about a thousand feet deep. The battle aura surrounding Ryoga looked like that of a teardrop and indent in the water indicated this as well as the slight redish hue surrounding him. Ryoga continued to concentrate into expanding his battle aura and gathering more ki for his ultimate ki-blast.  
"Holy shit!" Ranma said in shock when all of a sudden, the crater expanded to around three miles in diameter, "Look, it's still growing!" It continued to grow and grow until this huge gaping crater roughly five miles wide and about two miles deep could be seen. It looked like some kind of invisible convex lens was pushing down on the water surface as the water seemed to refuse to fill up the gaping hole.  
"Oh man, this is amazing," Luna even found herself saying, "I've never seen something like this before. It looks like some invisible force emanating from his body is pushing the water away,"  
"That's right," Ranma said, "That's Ryoga's battle aura. Frankly, I'm amazed that he could get it so large," He pointed, "Look, right there. You see that? That's his battle aura. You notice how it looks like a tear drop? That is the very top portion of his battle aura. Man, I can't believe it actually reaches this high. We're really high up,"  
Lina hovered forward, "I wonder what it feels like to touch a person's battle aura,"  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Ranma said, quickly chasing after Lina and grabbing one of her arms.  
"Why not?" she asked curiously.  
"There are three kinds of battle auras," Ranma began, "A passive one, an offensive one, and a defensive one. A passive one is what the meaning suggests. It's passive meaning there is no harm in being within the aura. An offensive one is like the surface of the sun to an extent meaning anything that enters the aura would melt from the heat. And a defensive one is one is where nothing can enter the aura,"  
"What kinda aura is Ryoga emanating?" Lina asked.  
"Most likely an offensive one," he replied, "That means that if you touch it with your finger, you can kiss you finger goodbye because the aura will melt in an instant,"  
Lina gulped. She was glad Ranma had told her this. She cautiously hovered away from the aura and to a safe location a good distance away, Ranma doing the same.  
"Yep, I was right, he's gonna do some insanely powerful version of the 'Perfect Shi Shi Hakodan'," Ranma said when he noticed the battle aura quickly shrinking as if being absorbed into Ryoga's body.  
When the battle aura was perhaps no larger than about a hundredth of its full size, Ryoga shouted, "Perfect Shi Shi Hakodan!"  
A massive ki-blast shot forward from Ryoga's skyward hands. It continued to grow as it travelled upward a few miles, growing to around a hundred feet in diameter before gravity took its course and brought the projectile back down toward the water below.  
"Um, shouldn't he move?" Luna suggested, "He's going to get hit by his own projectile if he doesn't,"  
"That's part of the technique," Ranma replied.  
They watched intently as the ki-blast struck the exact same location where it had been created. It struck Ryoga right on his skyward hands and exploded. A massive ripple of energy expanded from Ryoga in every direction like a ripple in a pond. The water instantly evaporated from the sheer heat caused from such a blast. The ripple continued to expand in every direction until it nearly disappeared around ten miles away from Ryoga.  
When it disappeared, all that remained was what looked like a cylindrical chuck of water around a hundred feet deep and five miles in diameter had evaporated instantly. It only took a couple of seconds before the surrounding water flooded in and filled up the evaporated water.  
With the demonstration finished, a totally unscathed Ryoga hovered high up into the sky to meet up with Ranma, Lina, and Luna. All three of them were highly impressed, even Ranma.  
"That was great!" Ranma said, "You've really improved on that Shi Shi Hakodan of yours,"  
"Thanks," Ryoga smiled a bit. He was very winded and was nearing the brink of exhaustion. His body felt depleted of all his energy and most of his ki. It was even an effort for him to concentrate his remaining he to sustain flight.  
Lina didn't seem all that happy. From what she had seen, Ryoga's blast had been at least ten times more powerful than her most powerful Dragon Slave. She gave Luna a wry look.  
"Three or four times more powerful than my Dragon Slave?" Lina asked, her eyes narrow.  
Luna gave a meek smile, "Hey, even I'm surprised. I didn't think Ryoga was holding back that much,"  
Ranma let out a breath. He had his work cut out for him. He wasn't even sure that he could outdo something like that. He was confident that he could create something more powerful than that blast but it would be one heck a difficult task.  
"Let's see you top that," Ryoga smirked at Ranma.  
Ranma's eyes narrowed. That was definitely a challenge, a challenge he had no intention of declining nor losing.  
"All right, my turn," Ranma said, cracking his knuckles.  
"I've got to see this," Luna said eagerly.  
Ranma hovered forward so that the group was behind him. He extended his hands toward the ocean below and closed his eyes. He breathed slowly for a few moment, gathering his thoughts. When he was ready for the task at hand, he allowed for his own battle aura to blaze to life.  
The battle aura that emanated from Ranma's body was a bit different from Ryoga's own. This aura had a bluish tint to it and was significantly smaller, no larger that around five times Ranma's size. The most noticeable difference between this aura to Ryoga was that this one was a lot less transparent, as if the aura was more heavily concentrated.  
"Um, can I touch it?" Lina cautiously asked Ryoga about Ranma's battle aura.  
Ryoga nodded, "I don't see why not. It's either a passive aura or defensive one he's emitting at the moment. That's generally typical of Ranma because a passive and defensive auras means no one could be harmed by it,"  
Luna smiled slightly, "It seems Ranma's even looking out for our well-being even when he doesn't need to. That's rather sweet of him,"  
Lina hovered forward and reached a hand out and touched the blue aura. When her hand entered the aura, a tingling sensation could be felt. It was a warm sensation and quite inviting. It felt a bit like warm liquid silk or something along those lines.  
A second later, the aura seemed to become absorbed into Ranma's body as he extended his hands down toward the water below.  
"Perfect Seppukku Moko Takabisha!" What happened next was beyond comprehension for the three people who witnessed it. A massive beam of ki around ten feet in diameter shot from Ranma's hands and downward into the ocean. A red barrier formed in front of him and expanded outward in a wall-like fashion in front of him and could be seen rippling. Although from everyone's point of view, that red barrier seemed to serve no purpose except for show.  
He held the shooting beam for close to ten seconds before it looked like he was satisfyed with the result. He then seemed to shout out a battle cry as his battle aura raged to life again, expanding to the same size as before.  
The beam of ki erupting from his hands expanded in diameter until it was around a thousand feet in diameter. This beam remained like that for several second before Ranma shouted out again and the beam expanded to almost a mile in diameter.  
It only lasted for a fraction of a second before it disappeared completely.  
Everyone's eyes widened as they realized what Ranma had just done. From where they were, they were able to see a circular mile of the very bottom of the ocean floor before the water flooded in a filled it up. "Wow, I just saw the ocean floor!" Luna gasped, "It must have been at least several miles to the botton of the ocean!"  
Ranma, breathing very heavily, smiled, "If you notice, the ocean floor was undisturbed. I basically used my ki-blast to feel through the water to the ocean floor and not punch through once the beam touched it,"  
"That means you have an exceptional control of your ki," Luna commented.  
Ranma smiled, feigning modesty, "I try to,"  
Ryoga sneered at Ranma, "I don't think yours was more powerful than mine,"  
"Are you kidding? Mine is much more powerful!" Ranma snapped.  
"Now now, boys," Luna began in a mocked maternal voice, "There's no need for you kids to fight," "Okay, whose blast do ya think is more powerful?" Ranma asked Luna.  
Luna laughed, "Ha, like I'm going to answer that. That question is basically the male equivelant of 'Does this dress make me look fat? Answering it either way leads to doom,"  
Ranma and Ryoga scratched the back of their heads as they looked at each other in confusion. Ranma was the first to understand that statement.  
He laughed, "I like that comment. That's cool, you make the ideal woman,"  
"Um, thank you," she smiled.  
"You're a woman that knows when to keep quiet. That's great since all women basically never seem to stop talking," Ranma finished saying without thinking.  
"Hey Ranma, why don't you open your mouth a little wider? Perhaps there's a bigger foot you can put in it," Luna narrowed her eyes at him.  
Ranma held his hands up defensively, "Um, it came out wrong. Don't misunderstand. It's just that-"  
"I suggest you not say another word," Luna said cautiously, "I'm almost positive the next thing you say will be even more offensive and inappropriate than what you said before,"  
Ranma gave a meek smile but kept quiet.  
Luna regarded him with a critical gaze for several long moments. She would let this slide. Aside from the occasional 'foot in the mouth' comment he would make from time to time, Ranma was a very tolerable individual. His pros far outweight the his cons.  
She turned her attention toward Lina, "Well, what do you think? They were both impressive, huh?"  
For the first time since Ranma's demonstration, Luna noticed how pale Lina's face was.  
"You okay?" she asked.  
Lina quickly regained her compsure and said, "Um, y-yeah. I'm fine. It's just that, from what I just saw, um, it'll be quite a feat for me to outdo that," She was very worried about outdoing such a blast. That blast Ranma had just done would probably rival her own Giga Slave. Although Luna would admit to nothing, it was clear that Ranma's blast was a lot more powerful than Ryoga's.  
"Looks like you're going to have to useyour Giga Slave," Luna commented.  
"Giga Slave? What's that?" Ranma asked.  
"It's Lina's most powerful spell," Luna said for her.  
"It's more powerful than a Dragon Slave?" he asked.  
Luna nodded.  
Ranma turned toward Lina, "Can you cast a Giga Slave? I'd like to see it,"  
Lina gave Ranma an odd look, "Ranma, in case you're wondering, casting a spell is a bit different than shooting those ki-blasts like you. It's not an easy task to cast a Giga Slave,"  
"So does that mean I won't be able to see it?" he asked.  
Lina gulped, "Um, not necessarily. Like I said before, I have every intention of winning this contest, and if I must use the Giga Slave to win, then so be it,"  
Luna moved in close to her sister and said, "You better push yourself to the limit because Ranma's blast easily rivals even that of the more powerful Giga Slaves,"  
She said, "I know,"  
She was afraid of that. That was what had her a bit spooked. She was very unconfortable with drawing in and producing so much power. And not only that, but because she wasn't all that comfortable with casting a Giga Slave, not nearly as much as with, say, a fireball or Dragon Slave.  
Lina took a deep breath. She wanted to see the shocked look on Ranma's face when he found out Lina was more powerful. Her pride also made her want to win also.  
"Fine, I'll do it," she said, "I'll show you I'm more powerful,"  
"My, aren't we modesty?" Ranma smiled warmly. He didn't really all that much if Lina was more powerful or not. Sure, he would rather be more powerful, but as long as he was more powerful than Ryoga, he was happy. He knew there were people out there more powerful than him. Heck, even the weakest Angel he had fought could have easily defeated or even killed him if he didn't keep his guard up. Heck, whoever this person was that trained Ryoga, he must be more powerful than Ranma also.  
Lina took several deep breaths.  
"We better get a good distance away," Luna suggested, "The heat from the Giga Slave is pretty intense,"  
Ranma and Ryoga did as they were told and hovered to a safe distace away, around a hundred feet.  
Luna approached them and said, "I'm gonna stay closer to her. That way, if anything goes wrong, I can help alleviate the situation,"  
"I guess it'll be big sister Luna to the rescue, huh?" Ranma grinned.  
"More or less," she smiled back, "However, I think she'll do fine,"  
Ranma and Ryoga remained where they were and watched as Luna hovered so that she was much closer. They watched as Lina began to chant her spell.  
"Darkest beyond the blakest pitch, deeper than the deepest night," she began, her hands in front of her, her eyes closed. She started glowing as she could already feel the power flowing into her.  
"Lord of Darkness, shining like gold upon the Sea of Chaos, I call upon thee, swear myself to thee," she continued. The clouds high above started to grow dark and swirl around. Although it was still light out, the darkening clouds made it look like late evening.  
"Gee, that's pretty cool," Ranma turned toward Ryoga, "Her spell is even causing the clouds to turn dark,"  
"Yeah," Ryoga agreed.  
Lina continued to focus on the spell at hand. She could feel herself almost succumbing to the extreme power filling her entire body, threatening to take possession of her. Although she was frightened, she was also excited. If it weren't for Ranma, she would had never thought she was capable of casting such a powerful Dragon Slave. She would do the same for her Giga Slave, to not only shock Ranma by her power, but also shock herself on what she could possibly be capable of. Besides, she wanted to show off, to show to Ranma that without a shadow of a doubt, she was more powerful than him.  
Luna looked up at the clouds. She noticed the darkening clouds earlier but had ignored it initially. The darkening clouds probably represented the dark energy entering this world. However, she didn't really know what to make of it.  
When the clouds turned absolute black, the color drained from Luna's face. Something like this was no natural to casting the Giga Slave.  
Without a second thought, Luna rushed forward at an alarming speed, covering the distance in a split second, "Lina, stop what you're doing!"  
Lina was unable to hear her sister's voice as she continued on with her chant.  
"Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power you and I possess!" she continued, her body trembling from the energy ready to be released. She could feel a tinging sensation throughout her body, the exact same sensation she felt as that of Ranma's battle aura a minute ago.  
"Lina, stop! Don't cast the spell! You're going to become possessed!" Luna shouted, reaching out and grabbing her sister by the shoulder.  
"Giga-" Lina shouted as she extended her hands down toward the water below. Knowing that a possessed sorceress was the most powerful sorceress of them all, Luna knew that the Giga Slave would easily blow a whole right through the entire planet and possibly caus planet wide devestation in its wake, Luna darted forward and in the direct path of the projectile.  
"What the hell is she doing?" Ranma said, noticing Luna just a short distance in front of Lina's projectile's intended path.  
"Slave!" Lina finished, releasing her spell.  
A sphere of what looked like black energy roughly the size of a basketball emerged from Lina's hands but immediately expanded until it was around a hundred feet in diameter.  
"Get outta the way!" Ranma shouted, not really knowing what to do, about to dart forward.  
Luna was unable to reply as she was forced to conjure a protective barrier in front of her. A white glossy barrier around twice her size appeared in front of her just moment before the projectile would had enveloped her.  
As the projectile came into contact with Luna's barrier, a loud crackling could be heard as what seemed like unstoppable object crashed into an immovable object. The space around the projectile and barrier started to warp and become distorted as bolts of black electricity shot out from between both objects.  
"W-what the hell is she doing?" Ranma shouted, darting forward, Ryoga following closely behind.  
Luna struggled to hold the projectile as she could feel her barrier slowly breaking to the extreme power of the Giga Slave. She could feel her body trembling as she tried to muster all the energy she could to simply hold the projectile back. What was worse was that it was inevitable that the Giga Slave will break through her barrier and go crashing into the world below.  
She desperately tried to keep the barrier for several seconds before the strain of holding the barrier in place disappeared completely. She glanced toward her right where she saw Ranma hovering in place right next to her, his hands held forward.  
Her heart lept into her throat as she realized Ranma was helping her out. She looked at his hands and noticed a red barrier rippling as it seemed to hold the projectile in place.  
"Need a hand?" he grinned.  
"What? How?" Luna asked in surprised.  
"I have this ability to cast something called an AT field," he said, his breathing already becoming a bit heavier, "It's impenetrable. U-unfortunately, I can only hold it up for around a minute before I pass out from exhaustion,"  
"Why didn't you tell me!" Luna said, "We have to knock the Giga Slave off course! It's the only thing we could do!"  
Ryoga, already way ahead of her, was proceeding to shoot ki-blast after ki-  
blast directly at the Giga Slave from directly below, hoping to cause the blast to travel upwards where it would disappear into space. Unfortunately, the Giga Slave projectile seemed unaffected, brushing off Seppukku-calibur ki-blasts from point blank range.  
"Y-you guys better hurry," Ranma said through clenched teeth, "I'm not gonna be able to h-hold this barrier u-up for much longer," He was already sweating profusely. He was going to pass out real soon. He was already exhausted from shooting off that 'Perfect Moko Takabisha' a short while ago and can't hold out for much longer.  
Without so much as saying a word, Luna hovered downward by where Ryoga was and extended a hand upward toward the bottom portion of the projectile as it was still being held in place by Ranma's AT field.  
A second later, a projectile that looked a bit like a massive black fireball shot from Luna's extended hand and struck the Giga Slave from below. The bottom of the Giga Slave caved inward, as if someone poking a finger into a beachball, before the momentum of Luna's projectile finally took over the Giga Slave's momentum, sending it spiraling upward into the heavens where it parted the black clouds and disappeared beyond.  
Ranma, no longer needing to cast his AT field, allowed for exhaustion to set in. He was so exhausted that he was barely able to keep on hovering.  
"God, I need a rest," Ranma commented, breathing heavily. He needed a few minutes to catch his breath. He was lucky that he had managed to conserve enough energy to stay conscious and aware of his surroundings instead of falling into a day-or-so-long sleep like he used to.  
"What didja do?" Ryoga asked, "How did you manage to knock that projectile out of the way?"  
Luna smiled slightly, "Well, we were dealing with a Giga Slave here. You know how the saying goes, fight fire with fire. I casted my own Giga Slave to knock it up and in orbit. They'll travel upward for quite a while but will eventually fade out,"  
"You did well," Ranma smiled.  
"No, you did well," Luna said, "If it weren't for you, I would had never been able to have stopped it,"  
He shrugged, "Well, I try what I can,"  
Ryoga said, "Hey, what's wrong with Lina?"  
"Oh god, I forgot about her," Luna said.  
Everyone looked up to where Lina was. Lina simply hovered in place, not moving, her hands by her side, gazing down at them. She was glowing a faint shade of blue. It kind of looked like a miniature version of Ranma's battle aura. She seemed to be in some state of shock and looked like she could only stare in disbelief.  
They hovered up to where she was. "Lina, are you all right?" Ranma asked. He noticed that Lina recognized him. However, there was something different to her.  
"Lina, speak to me, are you all right?" he asked again, placing his hand on her shoulders.  
The touch seemed to cause a reaction between the both of them. Ranma and Lina's eyes widened. The sudden shock had caused Ranma to pull away.  
"Are you okay?" he was seriously confused.  
Lina continued to stare at Ranma. A moment later, tears started to fall as she finally realized that she was actually looking at Ranma, that Ranma was alive and well and in front of her.  
"Are you hurt?" he asked, noticing her tears. The tears were flowing uncontrollably.  
Luna and Ryoga kept quiet. Although Luna had been meaning to say something, Ranma seemed to be doing fine with her sister on his own. Besides, Lina seemed genuinely glad to see him.  
Without warning, Lina darted forward and hugged Ranma tightly, crying into his chest.  
"Ranma, I'm so scared, please save me!" she cried.  
Ranma gently wrapped his arms around him, "You're fine. You've been saved,"  
"No, you've got it all wrong," she said, tilting her head back to gaze up at him. As their gaze met, Ranma's eyes widened as he realized something profound.  
"R-Rei? I-is that you?" Ranma couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew he was looking into Lina's eyes, but he was sure he was seeing Rei's soul behind them.  
She nodded, "Yes,"  
"H-how? H-how did you do t-this?" he stammered. He found tears starting to well up in his eyes. "I don't know," she said softly, "However, please, listen to me. I don't have much time,"  
Ranma was about to open his mouth to ask more questions but stopped, giving her his undivided attention, "Go on,"  
"I-I sacrificed myself t-to save you," she said, "I want to come home. P-  
Please, save me,"  
"Where? How?" "I-I don't know where I am or how," she answered, "All that I know is I don't want to go back there. I-I want to come back home, w-where you are, w-where everyone is. I want to come back home,"  
"D-don't worry," Ranma said softly, "I'll save you. I promise. I-I'll find a way,"  
"P-Please, hurry," she said, "I-I don't know how much more I can stand it. I can't come back because of what I am. I...I just want to be normal. I-I don't want to be God anymore..."  
Rei's message ended abruptly as Lina's body went limp. The black clouds high above quickly disappeared.  
"W-what happened?" Ranma said, frightened.  
"Lina must have regained possession of her body," Luna said, "She's very strong willed and wasn't likely to remain possessed that long,"  
"No!" Ranma said.  
Lina looked up and noticed Ranma. She was a bit disoriented and confused, "Man, what happened?"  
Ranma looked deeply into Lina's eyes, hoping beyond hope that he could still see Rei, perhaps talk to her, ask some more questions, get some more answers. But he didn't. It was as if Rei had never been in Lina's body before, all remnants of her erased away, erased over by Lina's subconscious.  
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Ranma said.  
"What's going on?" Lina asked, a bit nervous. "Lina, it seems you lost control over yourself when you casted that Giga Slave," Ranma said, trying to keep calm, "Because of that, you got possessed,"  
"I was possessed by the Golden Demon Lord?"  
Ranma shook his head, "No, you got possessed by this person I know, a girl named Rei Ayanami. She wanted me to save her,"  
"How?" Lina asked.  
"I dunno," he said, "However, I'm not gonna stay here and find out. I'm heading back to the house to tell the others of what had just happened. Perhaps they can help out,"  
Without saying another world, Ranma raced off for the shorelines of Japan.

"I'd like to know why I wasn't possessed by the Golden Demon Lord," Lina said.  
"Well, considering what you told us, I think I know of a plausible hypothesis that will explain," Ritsuko replied. Everyone was gathered around in Ranma's livingroom. It was pretty late in the evening.  
"Ranma has this thing called an AT field," Ritsuko said, "The AT stands for Absolute Terror field to most people. However, it really stands for Absolute Territory field,"  
"What kinda territory?" Asuka asked.  
"This 'territory' being implied to is basically 'holy' territory," Ritsuko said, "That's why Ranma's AT field is impenetrable, because it's a holy territory, something that can ever be touched or broken through,"  
"Okay, we still follow you," Ranma said.  
"Well, if you said Rei is considered 'God' then perhaps your AT field was the gateway that allowed her to take possession of Lina's body instead of that Gold Deomon Lord she was supposed to have been taken over by," Ritsuko continued, "Remember during the 'Angel Wars' you discovered something incredible about your AT field?"  
Ranma scratched his head, "I don't think so. The only thing I could recall was that aside from my being able to use it for a short period of time, I could cast it indefinitely when I was in contact with Rei,"  
All of a sudden, his eyes widened as things started to click in his head, "Waitaminute. I think I understand. Rei is somehow connected to me through my AT field. Since it's a 'holy' territory, it is a gateway to where ever Rei could be. Second, a part or perhaps should I say an essance of her could actually be within my AT field,"  
"Yeah, Luna mentioned to me about how she saw a red barrier form when you shot off your ki-blast," Ritsuko said, "That would probably mean that in some way shape or form, you AT field is intertwined with your ki,"  
"Okay, go on," Ranma said.  
"Well, Lina said that she had reached out and touched your battle aura," she continued, "Since your AT field is intertwined with your ki, that means when she was touching the battle aura surrounding you, she was also touching a part of your AT field. That was Rei's gateway to this world and into Lina's body. Since there is probably some kind of essance of Rei within your AT field, when it came in contact with Lina, that was way Rei was able to take possession of Lina's body,"  
Emiko looked at Lina, "Who is this Rei?"  
"Beats me," Lina shrugged.  
Ranma scratched his chin, thinking for a short moment beforesaying, "Man, this is so mindnumbing. Can any of you think of a way to get Rei back?"  
Ritsuko said, "There could be some possible ways. For instance, since Rei seems to be someone connected to your AT field, we could explore exactly how you AT field works and perhaps find a way to actually bring Rei through it. Afterall, no one really knows fully how an AT field works,"  
"But that'll probably take time," Ranma said, "Rei sounded like she didn't have much time. I wanna get her back as soon as possible,"  
"Well, perhaps Luna here can open some kind of portal to her world," she suggested, "That way, we can perhaps go on through to the other side and pick her up and bring her back,"  
"Sorry, but that isn't possible," Luna said sadly, "I can only open portals to worlds if I have some kind of reference to getting there. I was only able to open a world to this world because of Ranma's memories. Unless you have something that can help me determine which world I'm opeining a portal to, I'd basically be opening up portal after portal to an infinite amount of worlds,"  
"What about Ranma's AT field?" Asuka suggested, "If that's a 'holy' territory, perhaps that's a good enough reference to get to there,"  
"I don't know if I can do that," she said, "I can open portals to different worlds, but not different planes and heaven is definitely a different plane of existence,"  
Ranma looked at Luna, "Well, can we give it a try anyway?"  
Luna nodded, "Of course. There's no harm in trying,"  
Ranma waved a hand in front of him and a rippling AT field formed over the path of his hand. Luna was a bit shocked at how easily he could call forth something like that but quickly reached out and pressed her hand on the barrier.  
She closed her eyes, picturing a portal being opened to the world she was pressing her hand against. After almost ten seconds, she opened her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, I can't. There's no portal to open up. It seems that you're going to have to find another way to this place,"  
"Can you try again?" he asked.  
Luna tried it again, much to no avail. She did it a third time just to be sure, coming out with the same result.  
"It's no good," she said, "I can't open a portal. Like I said, I can open a portal to a different world but not a different plane,"  
"Damnit," Ranma said angrily, "There's gotta be a way. There has to be,"  
"It must have to do something with your AT field," Nene suggested, "Afterall, if that's how Rei seemed to get a message across to this world, that's probably how we can do so in return,"  
Everyone looked at Ritsuko.  
She gave a meek smile, "I'm thinking. I'm still brainstorming for more ideas on how to get her back. I don't want to sound like a pessimist, but it could be impossible to do so for all we know,"  
"I refuse to accept that, there has to be a way," Ranma said tenaciously, "It's all a matter of finding out what it is that's the hard part,"  
"C'mon, Ranma, you're an Angel," Misato commented, "For all we know, you might be able to tavel between this plane and Rei's plane. Afterall, Angels are considered messengers of God,"  
"Yeah, but exactly how I go about doing it is a whole other question," he replied. He continued to think. Misato did have a point. If he was considered a messenger of God, then that mean he should be able to travel between planes of existence. But how? Ranma's eyes widened, "I know!"  
Before anyone could say anything, Ranma ran out of the room and up the stairs. He came back down, nanban mirror in hand.  
"I'll use the nanban mirror!" he said.  
"That won't work either," Akane said, "Don't you remember trying not too long ago? It didn't work. Why would it work now?"  
Ranma smiled, "Trust me, it'll work,"  
"How, how are you going to do it?" Ritsuko asked.  
He shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I won't tell you. You'll most likely try and stop me,"

"Stop you? Why would we want to stop you? We all want you to save Rei," Sylia commented.  
Ranma smiled, "I'm glad to hear that. Anyway, I'll be back in no time. Take care,"  
"Wait, where are you going?" Akane asked, "At least tell us that,"  
"I can't because you'll try and stop me," he said.  
Before anyone could say anything, Ranma shed a tear on the mirror and disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.  
When the light disappeared, Ranma was no longer there.  
"Where the heck did he go?" Linna muttered, "He could have at least told us that. And what does he mean by we will try and stop him? We all want Rei back home safe and sound as much as anyone else,"  
"Perhaps it's how he plans on getting her back that he's referring to," Misato shrugged, not paying much attention. She believe if Ranma was intent on getting something done, the it would get done.  
The blood drained from Ritsuko's face, "Oh no!"  
"What? What's wrong?" Sylia was the first to notice.  
"Goddamnit! Why the hell does it all have to make sense!" Ritsuko shouted.  
Everyone became startled at Ritsuko's outburst. Misato placed her hands on her friend's shoulder and said, "Ritsuko, calm down. Tell us what's going on. What do you mean by that?"  
Ritsuko started crying, "Don't you see? Everything makes sense! The prophecies! We never made anything of it, thinking it was just lies but they're all coming true!"  
"What? What's coming true?" Misato asked.  
"Remember those Angels calling Ranma Tabris?" Ritsuko said, almost near hysteria, "Remember how they kept saying that it was inevitable, that the Angels would win in the end? Well, it seems that that 'inevitability' we thought had proved wrong. It wasn't the 'inevitability' that the Angels would succeed in beating Ranma and killing him. It was the 'inevitablility' that the Angels would win,"  
"You lost us," Misato said.  
"Yeah, you lost me, too," Linna said.  
"How did Rei save Ranma?" Ritsuko asked.  
"She merged with the Adam of this world and became God," Sylia answered.  
"Okay, what is Ranma?"  
"Ranma is Ranma," Nene said, "What do you mean by that?"  
"No, Ranma is an Angel, very much like Rei," Ritsuko said, "That's why the Angels said that the Angels would 'inevitably' succeed,"  
The entire room became silent.  
"Wait, you don't mean-" Nene gulped, her throat dry.  
"Ranma has gone to the other world to merge with Adam," Ritsuko said, "All this time, is the Tabris from that world. He had basically gone back to that other world, the world where the original Ranma had died. He went there to carry out his fate without knowing it,"  
"You're shitting me, right?" Priss said.  
Ritsuko shook her head, wishing it wasn't a joke. Unfortunately, it was all to real. It made too much sense.  
"Ranma is truly the final Angel,"

End for now

Yeah, now onto Just Won't Die 7 ^^;


End file.
